


Collection of Prompts from Tumblr

by Centeris2



Category: Star Stable, Star Stable Online, Starshine Legacy (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 23:57:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 114
Words: 61,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7866757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centeris2/pseuds/Centeris2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over 100 prompts and counting written for users (and anons) from tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. stormiesquall asked: 1 for the micro story thing 1 - don’t leave

SSL

The Star fell into Pandoria, and The Sun looked out into the pink swirls, ecstatic that after all this time she would finally be saved from her prison. But time continued to pass, and Lisa did not come. Anne tried to connect to her, tried to get a message to her, but Lisa could not hear her. She did not know what had brought Lisa to Pandoria, but she found herself shouting into the abyss, willing her voice to carry through the nothingness to her friend. She didn’t want to be alone anymore, and even if it meant Lisa was in trouble and trapped like she was Anne couldn’t help but be glad that she wasn’t by herself anymore.

And then one day very much like all the others, Anne felt a ripple. There was someone new on the other side, someone whose magic could somehow touch Pandoria, and this person was forcing the seams apart to get to Lisa. In Anne’s desperation to not be alone she ran to the edge of her floating rock, shouting and sobbing and trying to reach out to Lisa. But the only thing to keep her company was the echo:

“Don’t leave.”

\---

SSO

Day 2 - Rebecca wasn’t sure if it was actually day 2 or not, but she thought it might help her remain sane if she tried to keep a record in her head. She was starting to regret agreeing to sneak back onto the Dark Core base to search for the Book, and not just because her blood was splattered on the floor.

Day 5 - Surely the Druids were looking for her, they knew where she was. Alex, Linda, and Lisa together had enough magic for a quick rescue mission, right? They could even use the walk on water trick, Lisa with the harp and Linda or Alex with the Fragment of Aideen’s Light to run across the ocean. It was smart of the Druids to insist that she leave it behind in case of capture.

Day 6 - She needed to escape, and Justin was too afraid of his grandfather to help, even if he insisted that he was sorry for the sessions he put her through. And she couldn’t count on the Druids to rescue her before Dark Core broke her and turned her to their side.

Day 7 - Turns out she didn’t need Midnightwarrior nearby for her to generate lighting.

Day 8 - There was a storm raging outside, she could feel the static on her skin. Her body ached and her empty stomach clenched, and her wrists burned from the molten steel melting down her skin. All the hurt focused on the lighting in her hands burned hot enough to melt her chains until she dropped to the ground. The lock on the door was similarly destroyed, and she ran as fast as her damaged body could mange. Her rage blazed and she no longer valued the lives of the Dark Core goons standing in her way. When one more hand grabbed her before she could steal a ship she turned, hand shining with electricity held inches from her assailant’s face.

“Don’t leave,” Justin begged. After everything he had done to her, all the blood and screams he had forced out of her he had the audacity to look at her with fear that she would be the one to hurt him. It had taken her blood and bile and tears to make him see Dark Core for what they were.

“Come with me.”


	2. Anonymous asked: Dunno if you're sti doing this, but sso 3? 3 - [I] trusted [you]

“How many times do I have to say that I’m sorry before you forgive me?” Justin growled in frustration, rubbing his face before he looked at the young woman who had been ignoring him as best as she could.

“You already hit me with a stick to prove a point and I get it, but  _please_ , I am begging you to just  _look_  at me!” he continued to beg hoping Rebecca was going to crack when she sighed angrily and pinched the bridge of her nose and grit her teeth.

“I don’t get it, I saw you shock those men back on the oil rig but you spared me and brought me back, how can you do that and still be so angry? I’m even helping you and the druids and other girls, why can’t you just-” his words were cut by an angry scream.

“I TRUSTED YOU! You were my first friend here and then you went off an joined them and tortured me and-” she shouted, her hurt and anger making her spin around and glare at him.

“I was brainwashed! It wasn’t my fault! You know that! They were controlling me I didn’t want to do that to you!” he shouted back, defensive and angry that she was angry at something he couldn’t control.

“I KNOW THAT!” her voice hitched, “I know that. I know. I know I shouldn’t hold you responsible-” she wiped away a tear, trying to not start sobbing, “but when I look at you all I can think of is you throwing water on me and electrocuting me with that damn car battery and it still hurts and…”

Justin stood there, his heart aching and in that moment as he watched her cry he hated himself for what he had done to her.

“You’re right,” his quiet words made her look up.

“I don’t deserve to be forgiven,” he said as he turned away so that she could cry in private. Then, quite surprisingly, he felt her collide into him, hugging him tight as she sobbed. Her arms only loosened enough for him to readjust so he could hold her as she cried. He grit his teeth and swallowed, finding that tears were rolling down his face before he could stop them, and he let himself cry in her embrace.


	3. theseadontbotherme asked: 19. Sea change and 20. Alone finally

  1. **Sea Change**



The library was quiet, raindrops tinkling on the windowpanes, Rebecca spending a day inside reading with Linda. They had already completed their chores and helped around the winery and with no pressing matters to attend they decided against riding in such gloomy weather, opting to stay warm and dry inside.

“Hey Linda?” Rebecca spoke up as she turned a page.

“Mm?” Linda didn’t bother looking up from her reading.

“Why does the sea change around Jorvik?” the random question made Linda glance over at her new friend.

“What do you mean?” Linda asked for clarification.

“There aren’t tides or anything, not that I’ve noticed. I feel like the beach by Fort Pinta should, you know, change size based on the tides and all that,” Rebecca explained and Linda looked back down at her book.

“Oh that’s me,” Linda said in a totally nonchalant manner. Rebecca stared at Linda for a moment, looked straight ahead as though the answer was on the wall, and back to Linda.

“What?”

“I’m the Moon. Literally. It’s always high tide because I’m on Jorvik. When was the last time you saw the moon in the sky of Jorvik?” Linda asked, not bothering to look at the bewildered girl. She did smirk into her book, Rebecca still hadn’t gotten used to all the oddities of Jorvik.

“Ah…” Rebecca realized she hadn’t seen the moon, or the sun, since she got to Jorvik. Instead of pressing the matter further she merely fell silent and looked back at her book, her mind reeling at how strange this place was.

 

 

  1. **Alone**



“Ready for the party tomorrow?” she bounced with excitement, tugging on her best friend’s arm.

“Girl, I AM the party!” the best friend responded with a charming smile and flip of her hair.

“Of course, girlfriend! It wouldn’t be a party without people as cool as us there! Sure you can’t come to the mall?” the brunette friend pouted, quivering her lip to try to sway her friend’s mind.

“I gotta get this stain out while it’s still wet,” the most popular girl replied, sad she couldn’t go to the mall but gesturing to the mud that an idiot on a horse had gotten on her. 

“See you when I get back then!” the brunette called and left the stables for the bus to the mall, leaving her friend.

The girl walked back to her room with a smirk, head held high as she reveled in the awed and jealous looks the stable girls gave her. They just didn’t understand what it took to be this cool and popular, they had every right to be envious. Why wouldn’t they be? She was beautiful and popular and the best rider at the stables.

But then why did she find herself sitting on the floor of her room, her back leaned against her bed, holding a bracelet Justin had given her for her birthday? If she was so well off and everyone wanted to be her, why was she crying? Why did Loretta feel so alone?


	4. theseadontbotherme asked: 32. Dust motes

Perhaps it was strange that she found this place so peaceful, it was a tomb after all. Most people don’t go to graves to relax and have some time to themselves, yet she was doing so more and more these days. It was quiet in the cave, and she knew Midnightwarrior was outside happily grazing in the summer sun. She wasn’t afraid here although there were some ominous things about the place, like the ghost of Jon Jarl, remaining here for when Aideen would need him in some large battle. Any war that required the help of the dead was bound to be a nasty one. 

Currently there was no spirit speaking to her, just the bright blue tinted light shining from the floor. She watched the dust motes, illuminated by the magical light, until she grew bored and looked at the glyphs carved into the stones that surrounded the light. She wished she could understand the language and the pictures, from what she could guess it was something with snakes as most of them looked like, well, snakes. Her curiosity wasn’t enough to try to get Jon Jarl’s attention, he was no doubt sleeping, or whatever ghosts did when they weren’t visible and around the living. She wondered if one of the druids would tell her, or perhaps Linda knew what they meant.

From above she heard her horse whining, growing bored. She checked her watch and saw that it had been over an hour since she had come down here, and so she headed back to the world of the living, giving the light and its dancing particles one last look before she returned to the sun.


	5. theseadontbotherme asked: 44. Cheap

“I wonder how much this would sell for?” Rebecca mused, looking over the sheet of paper that had been thrust at her by a rather bizarre looking man. It was supposed to be his autograph, although Rebecca had not heard of Raptor until very recently and she had yet to hear any of his songs. Downside of living in the woods was no radio to keep up with current music and events. 

“What are you trying to sell?” Rebecca glanced over at the janitor of the mall who had heard her speaking as she wandered toward the exit.

“Oh, this autograph from that Raptor guy. I don’t have a use for it, and I don’t know any of his music anyway, so I wonder if I can make some money off it at least, maybe pay for a meal,” Rebecca showed the paper to the janitor who began chuckling.

“It’d be a very cheap meal, that guy has handed out the exact same thing to everyone who has talked to him at the mall,” the man informed her, making her look at the sheet of paper again. It’s not like it was a personalized message at all, he had just written it and given it to her ‘as a fan.’

“So like, five shillings?”

“You’d be lucky to get one for that scrap, it’d be better used to write down a grocery list, then it’d at least have a purpose!” the janitor laughed at his own wittiness before he went back to work. Rebecca looked at the paper and shrugged, stashing it in her bag. Who knows, maybe it’ll be worth money at some point, and if not it was always good to have some spare paper around.


	6. stormiesquall asked: 47 and Alex for the minific thing? 47 - Crave

Pandoria. It was pinker than she had expected, no wonder Anne was the Sun of it, it was fitting. But she didn’t have time to stand around and look at the pink hell composed of floating rock, she had a seal to break to stop Garnok and Dark Core. It was something she needed to do, like saving her brother from Katja. Like banishing Katja. 

Despite everything Katja had done, Alex wished she hadn’t needed to banish Katja. Maybe… maybe Katja didn’t have a choice? Alex didn’t have a choice in being a Soul Rider, it was a role she was born into, maybe Katja was stuck in a role too. But once the seals were broken, maybe Alex could find Katja, and maybe-

No. That was a want, Alex had to focus on what needed to be done. Want wasn’t even the right word, it was something Alex craved, like she craved touching Katja’s face and lips again. She needed to find her seal and get out of here, not worry about a want or a crave, despite how much she longed for it. 


	7. theseadontbotherme asked: Dunno if you still want these, but 33. Saccharine

“Raptor, is there a particular reason or inspiration for this… song?” Mr. Bigcake asked after reading a song Raptor had submitted for an possible album or EP. 

“Love it powerful, yo! Be great for a Valentines release!” Raptor declared smugly, arms crossed as he reclined on the couch in Mr. Bigcake’s office.

“It’s October,” Mr. Bigcake pointed out, glancing at the calendar.

“I was thinking we get some bombs for special verses, add a bit of lady vocals in there, that’ll take time,” the famous artist smirked at his own intelligence.

“While that’s true, I don’t think that’ll make the song passable,” Mr. Bigcake confessed, knowing Raptor would not be pleased.

“Why not? It’s a proven formula! It works!”

“Changing the words of ‘Hey Yo’ to ‘Love You’ doesn’t make it a new song! Not to mention it’s… it’s far too saccharine!” the blank face on Raptor’s face indicated that he had no idea what that meant before it was replaced by a scowl of not getting his way.

“It’s cheesy and excessively… sugary. Plus the words don’t really match the beat and feel for Hey Yo, that’d-”

“Acoustic! That’s a great idea! Songs about the power of love are better in unplugged versions! I’ll get to work right away!” Raptor picked up the exact opposite of what Mr. Bigcake was putting down but was out of the office in a flurry of excitement before his manager could get another word it.

“Lauren,” he paged his secretary, rubbing his face in disbelief.

“The coffee and scotch is on its way,” Ms. Dawnpoulos said before Mr. Bigcake could tell her what he wanted. When it came to Raptor, Ms. Dawnpoulos knew to keep the alcohol and coffee coming for her boss.

“You’re an angel,” he informed her, glancing at the song Raptor wanted to release next.

“I try, sir,” he could tell she was grinning from her voice when he clicked off and stared at the spot where Raptor had been moments before. What had he gotten into when he signed Raptor?


	8. theseadontbotherme asked: 29. Sweat

Rebecca coughed from the dust coming off one of the Moorland horses as she brushed it, feeling bad for the horse that hadn’t been properly groomed after being ridden. She was willing to bet it was one of the higher ranking Bobcat girls that had taken the horse out and left it in such a messy state, but didn’t say anything as she worked on cleaning all the horses so that they’d be happy and clean. 

“Hey, Rebecca, I know I was going to help with the stable chores but dad wants me to go into Silverglade to pick up a package,” Justin’s voice made her turn and look at the boy. He had a hand in his hair, guilty for bailing on helping her. Rebecca also noticed Loretta tailing Justin, probably hoping to be noticed but in a way that she could pass it off as just happening to be right behind Justin and totally not following.

“Ehh, things happen. Don’t worry about it!” Rebecca reassured him. It would take longer but she had done all the chores on her own before.

“Oh want me to come with and keep you company?” Loretta spoke over Rebecca, getting Justin’s attention. She somehow managed to look vaguely bored even when talking to Justin, trying to play it cool.

“Thanks for the offer, but you could help Rebecca with the chores? I’m sure she’d appreciate it!” Justin proposed and Loretta nodded with a smile.

“Of course! Anything to help you out!” Loretta chirped.

“Thanks! I’ll catch you guys later,” with a wave Justin bid them farewell and left the stables. Loretta’s enthusiastic smile curdled and she looked at the dirty stables and Rebecca.

“I thought I told you to stay away from him. He’s mine,” Loretta reminded Rebecca who rolled her eyes.

“I’m not getting drinks with him, I’m doing stable chores. You should try it sometime, you’d probably get to spend more time with Justin that way,” Rebecca pointed out, finished grooming one horse and moving to another.

“Well I won’t be spending anytime with him if I do chores now!” Loretta pouted.

“Just grab a brush or something, the more you complain the longer it’ll take. If we split the remaining work it won’t take long,” Rebecca nodded to the supplies. Loretta glared for a few moments longer before she picked up a brush and got to work, muttering to herself.

“Why would I want to do chores with Justin? He’d see me all dirty and covered in sweat and straw and just gross! I don’t want him to see me like that! Not that you’d understand, you don’t understand anything about appearances or looking cool…” Rebecca wasn’t entirely sure if Loretta was expecting a response or not, but Rebecca gave one anyway.

“A little sweat and work never hurt anyone. Besides, it’ll make Justin happy knowing he can count on you to help him out,” Rebecca was glad that made Loretta went quiet at that, mulling it over.

“It’s still gross. I don’t like getting filthy. This is what the stable girls are for,” Loretta grumbled and Rebecca resisted the urge to flick the dirt she was brushing off the horse at Loretta.

“There!” Rebecca looked up in surprise to see what Loretta was so proud and relieved about. The stall that Loretta was standing in was cleaned with fresh water and hay and a clean horse.

“Nice, now- uh? Where are you going?” Rebecca complimented before her voice trailed off as Loretta walked toward the door.

“I helped, didn’t I? You should be grateful! And I’m sure you can handle the rest, you’re good at stuff like this,” Loretta smirked as she waved and left. Rebecca groaned but continued working. 

“I guess Loretta beat you at cleaning, I thought you’d be done by now!” Justin’s voice startled her out of her work, she was on the last stall and was in the process of mucking it out. She glared at Justin, trying to decide if she wanted to tell Justin that Loretta had bailed after one stall or not. It would be the honest thing to do, but Loretta would be pissed if Rebecca told Justin, especially if Justin said anything to her about it.

“Did Loretta not help?” Justin asked when Rebecca was silent for too long, just glaring at him.

“She did one stall, so I guess she technically helped,” Rebecca replied, returning to her work.

“Ahh… sorry, I can finish up if you want,” Justin offered but she shook her head.

“I’m almost done,” and then a terribly mean idea popped into her head, “when I finish, do you want to go for a walk? I hear they’re selling ice cream at Fort Pinta’s beach now.”

“Seriously? Awesome! That’d be fun! I’ll treat you since I bailed, I’ll go get my wallet!” Justin said and left, and Rebecca giggled. Loretta was going to flip when she found out, but it was totally worth it. Plus she wasn’t going to say no to free ice cream.


	9. stormiesquall asked: 42 for the minific thing 42. Savior

It was a beautiful day at Moorland Stables and Tan and Loretta were spending it on a trail ride. With the summer beginning they were swamped with beginners and the two girls were desperate to be around cool people who knew what they were doing, even if it meant just the two of them in the woods. It was better that way, better to be around a few cool people than a horde of uncool people, wouldn’t want the uncoolness to rub off.

“You would think they would clean up around here,” Tan muttered as they looked at the trash left behind by the GED crew that had been planning on tearing down the stables. 

“I’m glad they didn’t trash the stables at least. But I can still smell their stench. Did those workers ever bathe?” Loretta sneered in disgust, waving her hand in front of her face as though that would help.

“Probably not. I don’t even understand where they came from, or where they stayed while they were working,” Tan shrugged, guiding her horse around the debris left from the hasty retreat of Mr. Kembel’s GED workers. Her horse bumped a pile of pipes, making them fall and spooking Loretta’s white horse.

“HEY! TAAAAAAAAAN!” Loretta screeched as her horse reared and took off in a full run, racing back to the stables. Her screaming and desperate attempts to halt her horse continued until her horse sprinted into the entrance of Moorland.

“Woah there! Ho boy!” Justin shouted, putting his hands up and catching the horse’s reins, calming down the spooked horse.

“Justin! You’re my savior!” Loretta cried, dismounting the horse and hugging Justin.

“Anytime, are you alright?” Justin asked although he continued to look at the horse, patting and shushing the horse until the horse calmed down.

“I am now,” she replied, still holding onto Justin and glaring at Tan who had just arrived, useless and with bad timing as always. Tan saw Loretta and Justin’s embrace and smirked but looked away. She would tease Loretta about it later.


	10. mystical-nature-nerd asked: Prompt: Fripp angst XD but seriously that Anon got me at the worst time and now I feel like crying

_0 Years since the Soul Split, 0 incarnation cycle_

It is strange to see my eternal friends in separate bodies, but in order to protect this planet and continue our duty to guard the universe against Garnok we had few other options. Linda insisted it was the best way to do things, and with her sight I knew to trust her advice. But taking on mortal bodies… Linda promised the others in human form that memories would be retained, they would just have to be reborn in new bodies as their human forms died. The steeds shared a similar burden except for Starshine, even with the soul in two forms he remained a leader who led by example. Lisa would lead by taking on mortality, Starshine would help me when the others were not yet in prime form to help battle against Garnok and would remain awake with me.

That is how Linda put it, they wouldn’t truly die, it would just be like they were asleep for a while, I wouldn’t truly be alone. And with Starshine to stay awake with me, it wouldn’t be so lonely. 

_224 Years since the Soul Split, 3 incarnation cycles_

It’s frightening to see how frail human bodies are. Alex was our warrior, and yet something as simple as infection put her to sleep before Lisa could arrive to heal her. 

_1154 Years since the Soul Split, 15 incarnation cycles_

Something is going wrong. Linda said they would remember who they were, yet they are no longer born with the memories of their past lives. Their memory returns to them as they approach adulthood, but I did not think I would have to jog their memories of me. How could they forget me? Starshine is also growing concerned.

_1299 Years since the Soul Split, 17 incarnation cycles_

Starshine confessed to me that something isn’t right with his connection with Lisa. They are one soul, and yet he tells me that he is beginning to feel… separate from her, even when she does remember who they once were. It is no longer as it once was, Starshine feels as though the the other half of his soul is becoming too human to feel him anymore.

_1878 Years since the Soul Split, 24 incarnation cycles_

Was Linda wrong? Or did she know that this would happen? They no longer move as one, each pair is now definitely separate beings. They once moved in perfect harmony with each another, yet now there is something disconnected. I can see it. Starshine grows quieter with each passing sleep of Lisa, even though he is awake with me it is as though he is in a waking sleep until she returns to him. I fear for him, for how can a soul be healthy if half of it is broken off and can barely remember who it was?

_2001 Years Since the Soul Split, 27 incarnation cycles_

Starshine went to sleep today. I felt him die and leave me. He could no longer bear to be apart from his soul, nor could he bear the burden of remembering how much his soul had decayed over the centuries. Now he can forget the pain while he is asleep until he must wake up again with Lisa. But I can’t forget. I can’t escape the pain. I have to stay awake so that I can wake them, so that I can keep Garnok asleep.

Linda said it would be like they were asleep, she continues to say that when she remembers. I don’t want to believe her, it doesn’t feel like they are sleeping, but I have to trust her. She can see everything, she has to know. I have no choice but to trust her.

_3239 Years Since the Soul Split, 48 incarnation cycles_

Linda was the last to sleep this time and I had to ask her if she lied. I had to ask if she knew, if she knew they would forget, if she knew she would grow apart from her own soul, if she knew they would one day no longer remember. She closed her eyes. I fear she’ll never remember her past life again.

_3990 Years since the Soul Split, 57 incarnation cycles_

The humans have brought a new religion to this place, and with it fear of magic. The humans do not understand, and so they believe it must be evil. If only they realized that the enemy rests in the ocean, and not in the hearts of the girls that they condemned for ‘heathen ways’ and ‘false religions.’ For now on we must operate in secret.

_4339 Years since the Soul Split, 61 incarnation cycles_

Humans are so foolish. Did Linda know she would be murdered for her skin in one of her lives? Did Anne know she would be married off and die in childbirth before she was 15? Did Lisa know she would be so hungry that she and her parents would be forced to eat Starshine to survive the winter? Did Alex know she would be drowned for witchcraft? Would they have agreed to this if they had known the suffering they would endure as humans?

_5992 Years since the Soul Split, 86 incarnation cycles_

We never should have decided to save this wretched planet. We could have left Garnok in their ocean and forced enough matter into their sun to create a black hole, it would have kept him trapped here forever in the gravity well. Yet they wanted to save these humans who had barely learned how to walk and make fire. What did Linda see in humans that made them worth saving? What did any of them see?

_6066 Years since the Soul Split, 87 incarnation cycles_

They no longer remember me. Not once in their lives this time did they remember me or themselves.

_6123 Years since the Soul Split, 88 incarnation cycles_

I am tired. I wish to sleep as they do. I want to forget like they have. The enemy is trying a new tactic, using the human’s deserve to build industry and make profit. They now require a company to fund their efforts. They still have their immortality, they can continue to work while the Soul Riders sleep, while their master sleeps. They all still remember. I envy them.

_6234 Years since the Soul Split, 89 incarnation cycles_

Once again they defeated the enemy. Once again they did not remember. But this time something is different. They are truly not who they were. Starshine was devastated when Lisa no longer remembered him, so depressed that he chose to sleep and forget the pain. And now she’s left him. Lisa, whose word was always her vow, the one who led the others and sacrificed herself for us, abandoned us for her desire for fame and fortune. Such human desires. Anne has also left us, but at least she goes with her soul intact, remaining with Concorde. We are leaderless now. They are not the people I knew and trusted all those millennia ago. 

I want this to end.

_6236 Years since the Soul Split, 89 incarnation cycles_

For the first time in history Garnok awoke just a few years after being defeated, but for the first time in history Garnok had help from an outside source. I can’t bear it any longer, the cycle of death and rebirth is broken, their souls have died and now they are empty shells of what once was. This ends now.

Let us end this.  


	11. stormiesquall asked: 24 and Katja if you're still doing the minific things 24. Tender

There were many things that Katja missed. For one, she hated being away from the others and from her horse. For another, she found that she missed Jorvik, or at least the freedom that came from being there. But the thing that she missed the most was perhaps the thing she also hated the most about this whole ordeal: Alex.

Damn that girl. It was Alex’s fault that Katja had been banished to Pandoria. How could Alex do that to her? Did she not understand the full weight of the punishment of losing? She couldn’t have, Katja could only hope that Alex had no idea what being banished to Pandoria truly meant. Katja couldn’t bear to think that Alex would knowingly cause her this pain, not after everything that had happened between them. 

And yet Katja’s only comfort in this torturous nightmare was her memories of the one who had damned her here. As much as she hated Alex, she found herself remembering how Alex had once looked at her, so tender and loving, and how hot and intense her touch was. And now that Alex’s lightning abilities had manifested, that opened up a whole new set of possibilities for their secret rendezvous.

Not that those would happen now, not here in Pandoria, and not in Jorvik when Katja managed to escape. That tender feeling was surely gone from Alex, but Katja hated that it was not gone from her.


	12. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: 41- Comfort food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (this’ll be a continuation of Sweat, I Trusted You, and Don’t Leave. And also Shadow from SSOWeek.)

“Hey, I uh, I wanted to ask you something,” Justin caught up with Rebecca as a Druid meeting ended. They hadn’t been too sure about bringing Justin into their ranks, but he was eager to help and redeem himself after helping Dark Core so they were taking a risk. But she still had trouble keeping calm whenever he was around and not hyperventilating from the memories his presence triggered.

“Mmm?” she turned and looked at him, wondering what he wanted to ask. He chewed his lip for a moment, glancing around as though someone might hear him before he looked at her seriously.

“Did you want to go down to Fort Pinta? We can get some ice cream again, and after everything I definitely owe you and I want to make up and go back to how things were and-”

“Yea, that’ll… I think that might help get things back to normal,” she cut him off as he began to rumble and glance around nervously. He gave an anxious laugh and followed her to their horses, riding from Valedale to Fort Pinta at an easy canter.

“I feel like I should tell you something,” Rebecca said suddenly at they rode side by side. He glanced at her, nervous about what she might tell him, and also confused by how easy her tone was. It was how she spoke to him before everything had happened.

“When I first brought up getting ice cream together back then, when you had to go to Silverglade and couldn’t help me do chores, I suggested it because I knew it would piss off Loretta,” Rebecca confessed, grinning and blushing at her own meanness.

“What! Wait, why would that piss off Loretta?” he was totally bewildered and Rebecca snorted a laugh.

“Wow, you really haven’t figured out that she likes you yet. And to think I originally thought you guys were dating,” Rebecca glanced at a confused Justin who shook his head.

“I’ve never dated Loretta… she likes me? I thought all girls acted like that…” he trailed off as if he needed to reevaluate all of his interactions with the girls at Moorland.

“Wait, so you only wanted to get ice cream with me to get back at Loretta?” he looked at her in a new light, a much more devious and mean light than he had expected from her.

“Oh don’t be silly, I’ll never turn down free ice cream!” she said with a laugh, and he laughed as well before he wondered if the only reason she did it was for free ice cream.

The horses were more than happy to roam the beach of Fort Pinta while their riders got ice cream. Justin was happy they were talking easily with each other, joking and laughing with each other until the waiter brought out their ice cream. 

“One strawberry cheesecake with chocolate sundae and one chocolate malt!” the waiter presented them with their order, placing it before them before he looked at Rebecca’s hands and commented, “don’t forget to take off your gloves! Wouldn’t want to get ice cream on them!” And with that he walked away, not seeing the smile of Rebecca’s face disappear in an instant. She stared blankly at her hands for a moment, lost in thought.

“You don’t have to take them off,” Justin murmured to her, watching her hands shake as she held them together, ready to remove them. Instead she put her hands in her lap and looked away, changing the subject.

“I’ve heard the strawberry cheesecake has become an instant favorite since they added it a few days ago, you’ll enjoy it,” her voice had lost the up beat tone it had only a few moments ago.

“Are you ok?” he ignored her suggestion, the ice cream he had ordered no longer important as she went pale.

“I’m fine. It’s just some gloves. It’s fine,” she wrung her hands as she muttered, looking away.

“No you aren’t, just leave your gloves on and ignore what he said,” Justin tried to calm her down but she shook her head as her breathing got heavier.

“It’s fine. I gotta look at my hands eventually. Just me being stupid,” she growled and pulled off her gloves and shoved them angrily into her pocket. She grabbed her chocolate malt and started drinking it, refusing to look at her hands. Justin, however, was caught looking at them. He had seen them before, but it always made him hurt. When she had melted her chains in order to escape the molten steel had run down her hands and upper arms, resulting in terrible burns. The druids had been able to heal some of it so she could still use her hands, but the scars were still bright red and had not had time to fade. 

“Ice cream makes excellent comfort food,” she said suddenly in an attempt to distract him from her hands, “I ended up here a lot after you went missing.”

He reached out and touched her hands, hoping he wasn’t crossing a line by wrapping his hands over hers.

“I wish I hadn’t gone away,” he murmured, watching her reaction as she looked from his hands on hers to his face.

“Well, you’re back now. That’s what matters,” she said with a shrug before taking another sip of her malt. “Seriously though, that strawberry one is supposed to be delicious.”

“Have you tried it yet?” Justin asked, allowing her to change the topic and letting go of her hands.

“Nah, not a fan of strawberries,” she said with a grin, expecting his look of shock.

“But strawberries are delicious!”

“Almost as good as lasagna?” she teased.

“I mention lasagna once and you just won’t let it go…” he muttered while she laughed at his blush.


	13. stormiesquall asked: 16, maaaybe something with Loretta? 16. In Dreams

Loretta wasn’t the same anymore. Most people didn’t notice and wrote it off as her normal nasty attitude to just about everyone. But Tan noticed, and on occasion she would get Loretta to open up to her when they were alone in one of their rooms. 

“I just wish I knew where he was and what was happening,” Loretta mumbled into a pillow in her lap, Tan sitting opposite her on the bed. It was the same conversation they had had for weeks now, ever since Justin has left without any word to anyone.

“Why won’t anyone talk about it? It’s like Mr. Moorland doesn’t even care! He doesn’t want anyone to mention anything!” the blonde continued when Tan was silent.

“You know that isn’t true, Mr. Moorland is super upset about it. He tries to act calm but you’ve seen how he freaks out on anyone who asks about Justin,” Tan spoke up, not sure if her friend actually wanted a response.

“I just… this is all that girl’s fault. Everything got so messed up when Rebecca came!” Loretta growled, clutching the pillow with tight fists.

“She didn’t kidnap him! She just… I don’t know. It’s been ages and no one has talked about it…” Tan trailed off, Loretta’s glare softened before she put her head on her pillow.

“I talk to him sometimes. In dreams. I dream that he’s back and everything is normal and we’re together like we’re supposed to be,” Loretta wiped away a tear as she confessed her dreams to Tan, and looked at her friend went the brunette touched the blonde’s shoulder.

“He’ll come back. Mr. Moorland hasn’t filed anything with the police, Justin wasn’t kidnapped or something illegal, so he must still be around somewhere,” and then a thought popped into Tan’s head, something that would make Loretta stop moping, “maybe we should look for him ourselves!”

“What? How would we find him when no one else has?” Loretta sniffled, not encouraged.

“We know Justin, he wouldn’t just leave unless he had a good reason! And if Mr. Moorland hasn’t filed a missing person’s report then he must know where he is! We can ask Rebecca, she was the one to tell Mr. Moorland that Justin had left, remember? We just got to get her to talk and we’ll find Justin! He’ll come back if you ask him to, you just gotta find him!” Tan’s excitement did help to perk up her depressed friend who thought for several moments before nodding.

“Yea… let’s find Rebecca tomorrow, we won’t leave her alone until she tells us everything she knows!” Loretta declared, sitting up straight and smiling again, hopeful.


	14. Anonymous asked: 1 from fripp's pov - 1. Don’t Leave

The blue rodent sat next to an elderly Linda, unable to do anything but watch as his friend’s breathing rasped in the dark room. She was going to sleep soon, she’d be asleep with the others once more, and Fripp would be alone again until they woke up. But somehow Fripp knew this was the last time it would be like this, the others had lost their ability to remember their past lives, Linda was the last one to be able to remember. He did not believe that ability would survive another sleep.

“Linda,” he spoke, rousing her to consciousness before she could completely fade away. She groaned and turned to look at him, squinting to see him through her old eyes.

“Did you see this? Did you know you would drift apart from your soul?” Fripp asked, but the only answer was a tired sigh, as though she could no longer form the words.

“Did you know you would abandon me? Did you know that you would forget about me? Yourself? Your friends? Everything?” she remained silent, trying to swallow, trying to breathe.

“Did they know? Did they decide to accept this fate? Or did you lie to them? Linda?” this was his last chance to get answers, he was sure of it, and so he shook her, trying to get her to focus.

“Linda, answer me! Did you know? Did they know? Linda! Don’t leave me! Answer me! Don’t leave!” he became frantic as she looked at him sadly and exhaled, closing her eyes and going still. For several long moments he remained perfectly still, looking at her dead face. She said it would be like they were asleep, yet she wasn’t sleeping. She was gone. A tear was caught in his fur on his cheek, then another, and another, until he was curled up on her chest sobbing, feeling her grow cold underneath him. 


	15. Anonymous asked: 27 Josh X Lisa 27. Hide

“What’s with the wig?” Josh asked after he closed the door, his girlfriend now inside the house. She peaked out the windows and closed the curtains for good measure before she pulled off the blonde wig.

“Well I have been on a world tour you know, the media would love to see me going to a guy’s house,” Lisa muttered as she shook out her hair, letting her red spikes fly everywhere once more.

“I still don’t see why we would have to hide our relationship,” Josh pouted, smiling when she kissed him on the cheek.

“Because I don’t want you to deal with paparazzi peaking in your windows and following you around all the time. Being stalked by cameras all the time isn’t as fun as you’d think,” she teased as she walked and plopped down on the couch. He followed and sat next to her, cuddling her when she snuggled into his arms.

“True but still annoying, I’d like to take you out properly now that you’re back,” he told her between kissing her hair over and over. She giggled and looked up at him.

“I was hoping to stay in, actually,” she smirked, leaning into him for a deep kiss.


	16. stormiesquall asked: 40 - Pet

“It’s soooooo cute! Where did you find him?” 

“Some dude on an iceberg by the Forgotten Fields! He has so many of them! You gotta go get one!” two girls squealed, making Rebecca glance over in curiosity. An iceberg by the Forgotten Fields? How strange. She was startled to see one of the girls with a baby seal in her saddle bag, the pup yipping at the attention, and spared no time leaving the cafe she was eating breakfast at for this so called iceberg.

As described there was indeed a small ice floe that had landed on The Forgotten Fields, complete with a man with a stall set up and dozens of baby seals. He gave her a smile and a wave as she approached.

“Ahh, another fine traveler seeking a companion!” he said, preparing for a sales pitch, ignoring her look of confused horror.

“Isn’t this super illegal?” she cut him off before he could start advertising which of the more expensive ones were ideal for her. He stared at her for a moment before he recovered.

“Of course not! This is all perfectly legal my dear, I’m sure you don’t want to read all the paperwork, all very technical and all that. Now given your dark horse I think one of the black pups would be an excellent contrast-”

“Wouldn’t seals count as exotic pets? Wouldn’t any buyers need a license in order to even purchase them?” she interrupted again and for a moment he looked annoyed before he continued.

“I assure you, it is perfectly legal! Jorvik’s laws on exotic animals are much more lax compared to other places. Plus, as you can see, Jorvik is obviously within the natural range of seals! Therefore they aren’t exotic to Jorvik! Now, perhaps I was wrong with the black pup, perhaps you’d prefer white to contrast-”

“What would I even do with a seal pup?” Rebecca asked, and this question seemed to make the salesman much happier.

“Why, who doesn’t want to pet a seal pup? Just look how fluffy and soft they are!”

“Well yea they are soft, but they grow to be like 300 or 400 pounds. Where on earth would I keep it? I can’t just carry around a 400 pound grown seal on my horse. And where did you even find all these seal pups?”

“They were abandoned!” he sniffled to pull on her heart strings, “I found these orphaned seals out on the ice, and rather than let them starve to death I decided to save them!” his beaming smile broke into a confused look when she slapped her forehead.

“They’re supposed to be abandoned! Mothers abandon their pups after several weeks because the mothers are literally starving to death. That’s normal! The pups will molt soon and start learning how to swim and hunt,” Rebecca explained, glad she had seen that documentary and researched seals so she knew random facts like that. He started at her for a moment, the pup in his hand wriggling and barking trying to get someone’s attention.

“That’s…. you would rather leave these pups to fend for themselves and probably starve or get eaten by predators!” he accused after recovering.

“Yea, pretty much. That’s how nature works. It’s a lot better than before bought for a few weeks until they lose their pup fur and grow too large for their owners and abandoned. Last I checked Jorvik doesn’t have a marine life center or a zoo to take care of the pups and release them,” her matter of fact statement made him stare at her for a few moments.

“So are you going to buy a seal or not?” he finally asked.

“I’m gonna go make sure this is legal…” she muttered, turning Midnightwarrior and heading toward Silverglade to ask The Councilman, hoping he would know about exotic pet laws.


	17. Anonymous asked: Can you continue more Fripp angst

On the island of Jorvik things that would seem strange to most of the world are seen as quite normal, for instance a large blue squirrel was sitting on the remains of an abandoned fortress and staring out over the ocean. Most of Earth’s mortals would be confused about the squirrel being blue, but the one observing the blue rodent was not confused. Of course, he wasn’t from Earth either.

“Something very peculiar has occurred. Several, in fact,” the figure called to the blue squirrel, causing the rodent to twitch his ears. His tail began twitching, automatically going into a defensive mode as he looked back at the pale man.

“Never thought I’d see you again,” Fripp commented coolly with a sneer. The man chuckled, stepping closer but stopping when Fripp’s tail twitched faster.

“That’s one of the peculiar things. I shouldn’t have been able to return from that prison, and yet, here I am. Something made my master stronger than ever, and when that happens, well, petty things prisons and banishments aren’t so relevant. But you already know that, don’t you?” Fripp’s tail held still for a moment, Fripp glancing away before he answered.

“This must end, Laverne. This can’t go on forever,” he declared, glaring at Laverne when the man snorted.

“What’s the matter, rodent? Is the lonely sentinel tired of his isolation?” he taunted before dodging a bolt of lightning from the squirrel, laughing.

“You are foolish to come here when you are so weak!” Fripp snarled, halting when Laverne put up his hands in surrender.

“Oh I’m not here to fight, I’m merely here to let you know my master accepts your challenge,” and much to Fripp’s surprise, Laverne’s amusement faded into a sympathetic face, “it’s hurts being alone, doesn’t it? Must be even worse that you aren’t alone, they just don’t remember anymore.”

Fripp lowered his hands, nodding once. He knew Laverne had experienced true isolation, and knew how much that could change a person, like it had changed him. 

“Good thing they don’t remember, could you imagine how they would react knowing you’re the reason Garnok is awake?” Laverne sneered, ending the moment they were having and laughing once more at Fripp’s growl.

“Begone!” Fripp demanded, armed with lightning once more and ready to fire.

“But of course! I have a flight to catch after all, the humans certainly have come far in their technology, now I can get into one of their machines and reach the mainland! I have so many things to do, and so little time! And then it shall be ended, as you wish,” Laverne smirked, giving Fripp a mocking bow before retreating. Fripp sighed and looked back out over the ocean when he was once more alone, reflecting over his actions and fearing what would happen.


	18. Anonymous asked: 3. Maybe something with Avalon? 3. [I] trusted [you]

Fripp wondered who would come to the Secret Stonering so late at night, and he left his perch from the rocks to greet the druid below.

“Ah, Avalon, what brings you here at this-”

“How could you?” Avalon demanded, startling Fripp by his intensity.

“I don’t-”

“We trusted you! I trusted you!” Avalon shouted and Fripp went still, his heart racing as his mind raced, trying to figure out how Avalon could have found out.

“What do you mean?” Fripp said carefully, fearing he would have to do something about Avalon.

“I had a dream, I saw what you did. Why did you awaken Garnok?” with that clarification Fripp relaxed, confusing Avalon by how calm the rodent had become.

“Ah, that. I saw no other option,” Fripp explained as though it was obvious and the druid was just too dumb, too human, to understand.

“No other option? Why not let Garnok sleep, as we have always done?” Avalon questioned, uneasy.

“And then what? In a hundred years have Garnok wake up again, and a hundred years after that, and a hundred years after that, on and on until the end of time. You yourself have read the Keeper’s history, you know the soul riders are growing weaker with each passing century, you had said so yourself,” Fripp continued, watching carefully as Avalon went still.

“Yes… I have. But then why do it now, when we are at the weakest we have ever been?” the cloaked human asked.

“When this all began I was told how it would end. After waiting for this moment, I knew it was time to end it,” Fripp lied. Linda hadn’t told him of this, he had no idea how this would end, and he wasn’t sure if he even cared how to turned out. He just wanted it to be over, he didn’t want to be alone anymore, and if that meant going to sleep then so be it.

“Ahh, I see… and that girl? Is she the one you saw?” Avalon asked, referring to the girl with the powers of all four circles. She had thrown a wrench in Fripp’s plan to die, but perhaps she was the answer to stop Garnok once and for all. Fripp nodded.

“She is the key to let us end this, I just had to trigger her arrival,” Fripp continued.

“This island has always been protected, I suppose… waking up Garnok would trigger the prophecy,” Avalon admitted before he nodded to Fripp.

“Forgive me for my doubt,” Avalon bowed his head until Fripp nodded and spoke.

“There is no need,” Fripp calmed the druid’s fears, and with that Avalon nodded once more and left. Neither was sure if they believed the other.


	19. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: Cave paintings for a story prompt?

The cool thing about Jorvik was all the mountains, and mountains meant caves. Midnightwarrior might not enjoy exploring caves, some of them were quite tiny, and it probably wasn’t a good idea to go exploring in caves on her own, yet Rebecca had gotten into an odd habit of exploring caves she came across. Often the caves were just large caverns that were home to a bear, or a Spy Master, or some smugglers, but sometimes they were cracks in the rock that she squeezed her way into to explore for a few minutes. And sometimes a few minutes turned into a few hours. 

After a good 30 minutes had past Rebecca heard her horse clamber in after her, whinnying for her and trotting to catch up with her. She was easy enough to find, she had a fully charged Fragment of Aideen’s Light which more than illuminated the rock walls around them. Even though they had sealed the Pandoric cracks and dealt with the shadow seekers, this area of the mountains was still stained with streaks of purple, and the fissure in the rock has been too tempting to pass up. The purple caught Aideen’s light, shining back at her and leading her deeper into the cave, much to Midnightwarrior’s displeasure.

“It’s fine, there isn’t anything in here except for us. It’s just a little tight,” she murmured to her horse and she walked, hearing his snorting and clopping behind her. She wondered how far this path went, and her question was answered when the floor suddenly slopped down into a spiral that was conveniently large enough for a horse. Holding onto the wall with one hand and the Fragment of Light in the other she made her way down the rock slope, occasionally taking a step down what appeared to be a stair. Midnightwarrior took his time but arrived at the bottom soon enough, nudging his stunned human. She had stopped and was staring at the chamber that opened up at the end of the spiral. 

The room was massive, so large she couldn’t make out the end of it, and it had layers cut out of the rock, creating ledges and stairs to lower levels. The horse and rider were towards the top, but she saw at least two more ledges above them and four below. What was even stranger was the markings on the walls, lit up by the Fragment she held in her hand. Part of her wanted to stash the light, afraid it would damage what was on the walls, but she didn’t know if the purple light cast from the walls would be strong enough to navigate safely. 

“Any idea what this is?” she asked, stepping and walking around the level they were on. Midnightwarrior snorted, tossing his head and sniffing the air, not providing an answer. She looked up, trying to make out the details on the ceiling, before her gaze traveled down the walls, seeing strange pictures painted on the walls. There weren’t druid symbols anywhere that she could see, this must have been older than the Keepers of Aideen. Much older. Some pictures she could guess the meaning of, one near the top was a figure on what she guessed was a horse arriving to the island. Others she didn’t understand, ones that looked like boats crashing on the island, one where a figure was standing in the center of something and it looked like a river was coming from a dead animal, and one of people perhaps migrating somewhere. Whatever this place was she knew it told a story, maybe even the history of Jorvik, but it wasn’t the one she knew from the Druids. This was too old to be Jon Jarl’s time, this was prehistoric. 

“I bet Linda and the druids would love this,” she whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence.


	20. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: The farthest man-made object is Voyager 1. 17 light hours away.

The farthest man-made object is Voyager 1. 17 light hours away. Farther than that are humanity’s radio waves, 110 light years away. It all sounds so impressive, and yet it’s barely anything compared to how far away this must have come. 

At least that is what Rebecca assumed as she studied the UFO. She wondered how no one had found and reported it yet, surely someone would have come and checked the authenticity of the crash site. It certainly looked real, but she also wasn’t an expert on such matters. She didn’t know how to tell what sort of metal it was or how long it had been there, but she could tell that she didn’t recognize the symbols. When she first found it she had wondered if it was something with the Keepers of Aideen, but double checking the symbols had proven that to be false. They weren’t using the same symbols at least, so unless the Druids had changed their pictographs and glyphs they weren’t connected that she could tell. And unfortunately she didn’t have access to the sort of symbols Dark Core and Garnok were using, so she couldn’t check with them. She doubted they were connected to GED, she couldn’t picture them being aliens. Heartless, perhaps, but still human.

But what she hadn’t worked up yet was the courage to actually go into the wreck. She wasn’t sure if she could climb up into it, or if it was stable enough for that. She also wasn’t sure if there was a way to make sure it wasn’t booby trapped. And with it on its side, she would need some sort of equipment to actually climb up into it and back out, as most of it was practically vertical. There was also the matter of getting into it, she doubted the doors would just open for her, she’d be lucky if a crowbar worked, a torch would probably be more effective. Assuming the metal used for the skip melted at a temperature that a normal blow torch could reach. She could try throwing lightning at it, but she didn’t want to damage it if she didn’t have to.

This left her staring at up at it, Midnightwarrior grazing beside her as she sat and looked at it, studying it. She wanted to explore it, especially if it had any clues to Garnok or the Druids. And she was especially curious to see if it was something completely different from them, as this was science and not magic. She had seen enough science fiction shows growing up to know that science and magic were essentially one and the same after a point, but she wasn’t sure if this was to that level. Was Jorvik truly such a bizarre place that people didn’t bat an eye at a crashed spaceship? This was far too elaborate to be a prank, and the thing that made her wonder if there was some connection to Garnok and the Druids was the traces of purple smeared into the rock leading up to it. It was like the stone near the crack that she had closed above Jasper’s Farm in Golden Hills. It seemed to much of a coincidence to not be related, or perhaps the Pandoric energy had seeped all the way through the mountains to the rock on this side? 

“What do you think? Should I try climbing up into it? Or maybe down into the part that goes into the ground?” she asked her horse. His response was to swish his tail and continue chomping on the grass until he suddenly stopped and trotted over to the ship, sniffing it.

“Seriously? Ah sure, better now than never!” she laughed, getting up and following her horse over to the metal. She hauled herself up, looking around for some metal scraps.

“I think the folks in Dino Valley might be able to figure out what this metal is. If I can figure that out maybe… I dunno, maybe I should try magnetic anchors to climb up,” she talked out loud, her horse whickering behind her in answer.

“Yea I know, I should have done the magnet thing ages ago to see if it is magnetic. It’d help narrow down what this metal is, assuming it isn’t something not found on Earth,” she continued speaking, looking at the exposed beams above her.

“I don’t think a grappling hook would work, plus where would I get a grappling hook? Probably the same place I’d find magnetic anchors to climb up the wall to be honest,” Midnightwarrior snorted behind her.

“It’s weird, okay? It’s not pink or purple like any of the druid’s stuff, and the portal on the Dark Core platform is more yellow and red, not this light blue. I don’t think anything matches this color on the island,” the horse stomped and tossed his head.

“Oh, right, Jon Jarl’s Tomb is blue. And I guess the kallstones. The Kallters like the color blue. Think this has to do with Dino Valley?” she looked down at the horse as he shook his head and itched his leg.

“You’re right, this location doesn’t make sense for an meteorite crash in Dino Valley. Unless it happened a lot later and hasn’t had much of a chance to be buried. Unless it’s been eroded? No, the top shouldn’t be that clean, I think it’d have a more weathered look if it was buried in rock at some point…” she rambled, her horse occasionally moving his head or making a sound to encourage her. She managed to pry a piece of metal from the wreckage to test, but wasn’t able to get further than that. Whether or not the AAE people would be able to help her she wasn’t sure, but with her luck Nic Stoneground would probably pull something out of his magic fridge. Alternatively, Professor Einstein would make a bomb out of it, that would had a bad habit of turning everything into a fusion project.


	21. theseadontbotherme asked: 16. Just another day

“THERE IS SOME PORTAL TO HELL HELP” read the text message that woke up Rebecca. She groaned and rubbed her eyes, sitting up and looking around, seeing the pink light near the winery from where she had slept in The Everwind Fields. Just another day on Jorvik.

“so leik so srry but can you do the chores are moor??? im busy today kkthx! :)” a text from Julie brought her to Moorland.

“The chickens escaped again and we can’t find them, can you please help? They like you!” was a voicemail from Fillip Sunfield, and four from Jack Goldspur were him saying they should play video games and oh yea Jill needed something but Jack couldn’t remember what exactly.

The lights in Jarlaheim needed replacing, again, and the animals at the shelter had managed to find more mud and muck to roll in and needed a bath. The animals needed to be taken care of, farm equipment needed to be repaired, photos needed to be taken, bridges had to be fixed. Fish needed to be caught and sold, meteorites had to be retrieved, crops needed to be harvested, gardens had to be tended to, GED had to be sabotaged, areas had to be surveyed.

And by the end of the day Rebecca and Midnightwarrior set up camp wherever they happened to be when they had finally finished, significantly richer and more respected, but also dead tired. 

“You know, it’s going to be relaxing when we finally do something for the druids again, it’ll be a break from doing this stuff every day,” Rebecca mumbled, leaning against a tree near Firgrove and watching Midnightwarrior roll. He snorted and shook when he stood before he began grazing.


	22. theseadontbotherme asked: 20. Sparkle (light hearted practice, yeah?) xD

Being rich and famous had a lot of perks. For instance: you’re rich. Also, you’re famous. These combined meant that money was never an issue and you were almost always surrounded by adoring fans, and occasionally a grouchy manager. But mostly adoring fans, and more rabid fans offering to bear his children, which was kinda creepy. And coming from a life of smoke and grime and poverty, the sparkle and glitter and wealth was a welcome change that Raptor had longed for since he was a young child. 

He loved the sparkle of his bling, the way the metal shined and reflected and made his fans swoon. He loved the sparkle of light from the stage and the flashing cameras. He loved how his fans lit up and sparkled when he gave them a wave or spoke to them. But most of all he loved how his mother smiled, her eyes sparkling from happiness that they would never have to worry about having enough to pay for rent and food ever again.


	23. theseadontbotherme asked: 5. Blue [have fun!]

Officially meeting the Keepers of Aideen had sent Rebecca’s head swimming. She couldn’t believe everything that she had gotten herself into, and even though she kept asking questions she was left with even more by the time the meeting had ended. She had just come here to spend the summer and hopefully go to college here, and now she was wrapped up in some sort of end of the world nonsense.

“Hey, Elizabeth,” she halted Midnightwarrior in front of Elizabeth’s house after the meeting, the druid beating her back somehow. Elizabeth looked up at her with a smile.

“Yes?”

“Okay so I get that we’re stopping the end of the world and I’ve got magic and the soul riders and all that stuff… okay I actually don’t but I just gotta ask one more question,” Rebecca started, not sure how to say it.

“What do you still wish to know? Why didn’t you ask during the meeting?” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, confused and not sure how much should be revealed.

“Why is Fripp blue? Like, okay, talking magic squirrel chipmunk thing, okay, whatever. But… blue?” Rebecca was not pleased when Elizabeth smiled up at her.

“You’re asking why a talking magic rodent is an odd color? That’s the only thing you are confused about?” Elizabeth’s question made Rebecca grumble and look away.

“Point taken. I’ll see you later!” Rebecca called as she rode off wondering why, of all animals, they had a bunch of rodents helping them.


	24. stormiesquall asked: 17. Darkness falls AnnexAlex

When Alex woke up from a very passionate night she was worried to see she was alone on her bed. She realized the curtains were parted, and her momentary fear was replaced by a warmth caused by seeing Anne sitting by the window, the dawn sun shining on her. Alex couldn’t help but smile at how beautiful her love was, but Anne’s face was solemn, studying the outside world.

“It’s so dark,” Anne murmured, hearing Alex shifting on the bed. Alex blinked and rubbed her eyes, not understanding how Anne could stare at the sun and say it was dark.

“Compared to Pandoria, you mean?”

Anne shook her head and replied, “compared to before. Jorvik was brighter after we defeated Garnok, before I left for France.”

“Well the Sun is back now, that should brighten it,” Alex teased, getting up and hugging Anne, kissing her hair.

“Darkness falls over Jorvik again. It’s strange seeing it happen, it must have happened last time, before Lisa came, I just didn’t have the ability to see it,” Anne continued with her serious topic and Alex abandoned the attempts to be jovial.

“I don’t understand, it looks the same to me,” Alex admitted, happy that Anne leaned into her.

“I think it’s because I’m the Sun, now I notice when the light changes. It’s like… it looks like the sun is being blocked by storm clouds. Not literal clouds, but just, evil energy from Garnok is trying to block out the light,” Anne tried to explain and Alex grinned.

“Well storm clouds aren’t bad, that’s where I’m strongest. And when my storm is over the clouds will blow away and you’ll come back out to shine,” Alex whispered and Anne finally looked away from the window and up at her lover with a smile.

“Very true, I guess it is time for you to work your magic then,” the Sun teased the Lightning, directing Alex’s lips to hers.


	25. skyhavenjorvik asked: 13! Too Loud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (this is picking up after a fic I wrote for the first SSOWeek, prompt Happiness)

The first thing Rebecca was aware of was how cramped she was, second was that there was an equally cramped body next to her. Moving carefully to untangle herself from her friend, she realized she was next to a toilet.

“Anna, wake up,” she mumbled, nudging her friend. Anna groaned and tried to stretch, successfully banging her hand against the wall of the stall.

“Too bright… too loud…” Anna grumbled, waking up more after punching a wall accidentally.

“Why did we do this again?” Anna muttered as she managed to sit up. The pair repositioned themselves, for some reason not leaving the restroom stall just yet.

“Because we wanted to beat the rush to the mall to see Raptor. Because we’re crazy,” Rebecca remembered, laughing at how ridiculous they looked after hiding in a bathroom all night. The both started running their hands through their hair, attempting to fix themselves so it didn’t look like they had spent the night in a bathroom in secret.

“Yeaaah you’re right, but hey, we’ll get to see Raptor!” Anna stood triumphantly, clearly not regretting their life choices. At least they didn’t regret their decision until they walked out of the bathroom and saw a very grumpy crowd at the mall.

“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked the closest group of angry young adults who were complaining and checking their phones.

“Raptor canceled! He posted that he won’t be making it to the mall!” one of the grouchy people declared, leading to Anna to check her phone to see if it was true. After finding the post she showed it to Rebecca who sighed in frustration.

“Let’s just go get our horses,” she mumbled, hoping that Midnightwarrior and Babydoll hadn’t decided to wander from Fort Pinta.


	26. stormiesquall asked: 20. Alone, finally for KatjaxAlex

It had been year since Alex had banished Katja to Pandoria, and there were few days where they didn’t think about it. Katja had little choice, being stuck in Pandoria and all. But Alex, Alex knew it was necessary yet that didn’t stop the nagging guilt and worry for Katja. And today Alex’s fear for Katja was reversed, and she found herself terrified for her own safety.

Dark Core’s campaign to break up the Soul Riders was working more effectively than the Keepers of Aideen could have ever feared. Just as they had gotten Lisa free from Pandoria, they had managed to ambush and capture Alex. Save one Soul Rider, lose another right after, it was not a good indication for how the war was going for them.

Alex hadn’t been banished to Pandoria though, like Lisa and Anne. That didn’t mean she was lucky, she was sure Tin-can had been sent to Pandoria while she was at a Dark Core location. She wasn’t sure where, she couldn’t hear the ocean but she didn’t know how far from the outside world she was. She also didn’t know how long she had been unconscious after the ambush, or how far they had taken her. Fear gnawed at her stomach despite her efforts to be strong, and she didn’t know what to expect when someone finally came to see her. Would they kill her? Try to turn her? Interrogate her? Whatever they tried, she had a feeling it would be painful.

And finally the door opened, revealing a pale figure dressed in white who strode into the room as though she owned it. In a way, she did. Alex looked at Katja, hoping her swallow wasn’t noticeable, and she wished someone else had come.

“I have you alone, finally,” Katja said as the door closed and locked behind her, leaving just the two of them in the room. Katja stared at her prisoner, as though waiting for something, or perhaps looking for something. Alex tensed and shifted back when Katja stepped forward and touched her face. She leaned forward when she tasted Katja’s familiar lips on hers, all her guilt and concern suddenly coming to the surface in that gentle gesture.

“I’m so sorry-” they both confessed into each other’s open mouths, relieved to see that the hate they feared they would see in the other’s eyes was nowhere to be found.


	27. stormiesquall asked: 8. Sunbathing and AnnexAlex?

As time passed and the Soul Riders became more attuned to their circles of magic they began to notice smaller manifestations of their powers. For instance, Alex seemed to have a permanent field of static around her, resulting in little shocks when she touched someone. For Anne, she radiated heat.

It left Alex feeling like she was sunbathing whenever they were alone together, cuddling on a couch or in a bed. All she had to do was relax and close her eyes and it felt like the sun was shining on her. And it a way, that was true. Even when Anne slept, Alex would sometimes watch and smile, bathing in the beauty that was her lover and the warmth in her heart. After contemplating this, Alex often kissed Anne’s sleeping face, pleased to hear the little moan and see the soft smile appear on Anne’s face. If she wanted to wake Anne up, Alex would usually repeat the process, kissing her until the princess woke up, although sometimes it took the smell of coffee. But if it was night and Alex wished to sleep, she would simply reach out to Anne and hold her, falling asleep holding the Sun.


	28. theseadontbotherme asked: 4. Coffee or Tea?

“Coffee or tea?” Alex asked, knowing the answer before Anne gave it.

“Coffee,” Anne smiled at Alex who was already pouring Anne a mug. She took the mug and smelled the drink, humming to herself happily before she set it down and watched Alex make herself some tea. Despite the efforts of Anne’s mother, Anne had never taken to tea. She could drink it, and did quite regularly at fancy events with her parents, but if given the option she would take coffee. Alex, on the other hand, found that coffee made her feel ill and thus preferred tea. It made gift giving easy for Anne, Alex was always thrilled by the surprise case of a new flavor of tea to try. 

By the time the coffee in the mug had cooled enough for Anne to drink it Alex was serving herself a cup of tea, and so they were able to sit at the table together in content silence, sipping their respective drinks.

“What is the next step?” Anne began the conversation after several happy minutes of silence. Alex sighed and took a sip of her tea, looking into it as she spoke.

“We have everyone back together, and the new girl and her horse. But she can’t talk to her horse yet, she’s very powerful but not ready yet, the druids have to keep training her before she’ll be able to become a Soul Rider,” Alex thought out loud, not sure what the next step was but trying to guess it anyway.

“What about Concorde? He wasn’t in Pandoria with me,” Anne’s thoughts turned to her horse that she had not seen since she was trapped in Pandoria.

“I don’t know. We still have to find him, but we have no leads. I thought maybe you might know where he was? Where they might have taken him?” based on Anne’s expression she didn’t remember anything that would be helpful. They returned to silence, and Alex reached out to Anne and took her hand, not saying anything as she let Anne think.


	29. stormiesquall asked: Can I request a continuation of the KatjaxAlex Alone,finally prompt? I like when you write that ship

“So… what are you doing here? Are you going to free me?” Alex asked after the apologies and kisses had been exchanged between prisoner and general. Katja glanced away and bit her now red lip, shaking her head.

“It is more important to keep you out of the way, and killing you will just start your reincarnation cycle again. Right now they are confident and don’t think they need any information you can provide, and they aren’t desperate enough to try to turn you and risk you trying to be a double agent against us,” Katja explained, not answering Alex’s questions at all much to the girl’s ire.

“So you’re just going to leave me here,” Alex grumbled, pulling away when Katja tried to comfort her by touching her face.

“They won’t hurt you though… they’re letting me do that. They think I’m punishing you for what you did to me,” Katja sighed, wishing that Alex would stop glaring at the floor.

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” Alex spat, glaring at Katja before looking back at the floor.

“Well, you aren’t going to be tortured… and I’m sure the druids are close to finding Anne,” Katja continued to try to console Alex who seemed to realize something.

“That new girl…” Alex looked up at Katja and grinned, “you guys are terrified of her, aren’t you? She shows up and finds Linda and Lisa in a few short weeks and sneak on here undetected and escape. You guys are scrambling and desperate,” based on Katja’s expression Alex was right. Now it was Katja’s turn to glance away, sighing.

“Listen, our sides are after the same thing, with Garnok I mean, we’re just using different methods,” Katja tried to explain, not wanting to give it away just in case Garnok or the druids somehow found out. This seemed to puzzle Alex for a moment before her expression hardened and she went back to not trusting Katja.

“How are you doing? Besides the recent imprisonment thing, I mean,” Katja asked, sitting down on the ground. Alex blinked, surprised by Katja’s topic change.

“Uhh, alright, I guess? Fighting a war and all that, the usual,” Alex answered, not sure she was comfortable talking to Katja like this after everything that had happened.

“What about the world? How are the humans doing? I’ve been out of touch for a while after all…” Katja’s voice trailed off into a mumble by the end and Alex fought off a smile. Katja, for all she was and had done, found herself interested in the human world, and that was reassuring to Alex. So Alex indulged Katja, telling her the major gossip and changes to the world that had transpired while Katja was in Pandoria. Katja listened with rapt attention, making Alex smile at the enthusiasm Katja was trying to hide as she learned about how the world had changed.


	30. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: Just slaughter Rebecca's feelings

“Justin, I was under the impression that you were making progress, you were insistent that you would be able to turn her,” Mr. Sands mused as he looked at their prisoner, chained and panting from pain. Justin gulped, standing behind his grandfather as Mr. Sands inspected Rebecca, turning up his nose slightly.

“If we just reasoned with her, explained things…” Justin spoke up, unsettled when his grandfather clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“My dear grandson, reason and logic convinced you of the truth of our cause because the druids had not yet used magic to blind you and close your mind,” Justin went still as his grandfather placed a hand on his shoulder in reassuring. It was hard to feel reassured when the hand on his shoulder had done such horrible and cruel things.

“Her resistance is not our fault, her pain is caused by the druid’s mind control. Sooner or later her own mind will overcome the mind control in order to stop the pain, it is her own stubbornness and the druid’s that are causing her to resist,” Mr. Sands continued to explain before he gestured to Rebecca, “the sooner you break her, the sooner the pain will stop.”

“You mean break the mind control?” Justin asked, bothered by the wording and the smile and nod his grandfather gave him. He jumped when Rebecca barked a laugh, her voice raspy and her breath coming in pants.

“So I just gotta punch Justin a lot to break the mind control you used on him? Good to know,” Rebecca commented through heaving breaths, giving Mr. Sands a challenging grin. His expression was not amused, a disgusted sneer on his face instead.

“As you can see, the druids’ hold on her is still strong. She still believes that I tricked you and forced you to join us,” Mr. Sands began, trying to turn this to his advantage and giving Justin a critical look, “that is why you must break their hold on her, in order to save her life.”

Justin continued to look unsure, and Mr. Sands was not pleased with the hesitation.

“I thought you wanted to prove yourself, but if you are still not up to the task-” Mr. Sands turned his full attention onto Rebecca, summoning magic from the shadows in the room. 

“What is it with you and tentacles? You really need to lay off the hentai,” she spat when the shadow tentacles grabbed at her, but Justin spoke over her before the tentacles could do any harm.

“No! I- I want to prove myself! I can do this!” Justin insisted, not seeing Mr. Sands’ smirk at Justin’s desperate tone. But the tentacles receded and Mr. Sands stepped aside, offering Rebecca to Justin. Mr. Sands had magic at his disposal, but Justin has to use more conventional methods. None that he had come up with, and Justin wasn’t sure he wanted to know who had learned about the methods that were at his disposal. He took a deep breath and walked over to the table that had various tools that he could use, and he knew he could ask for more equipment to be brought it. He tried not to look at his grandfather, he felt uncomfortable with Mr. Sands’ studious watch, judging how effective his grandson was. If he had had the choice he would have done this without anyone else in the room.

Of course if no one else was in the room, he wouldn’t have to do this.

But now came the hardest part, looking at Rebecca as he held a cattle prod in his hand. As time had passed her expressions had changed. At first she had looked at him sadly, trying to get him to turn instead of her. After he had tortured her she began to look at him with anger and hate. But now she just watched him, neither sad nor angry, accepting what was happening but refusing to budge to change it.

“You can stop this, you don’t have to go through this,” Justin offered her before he began.

“You’re the one holding the cattle prod, I believe you are the one who can stop this, given the situation,” she stared at him, making him shift uncomfortably before he looked down. He couldn’t bear to look at her face when he touched the active cattle prod to her leg. Justin’s stomach twisted as she spasmed and screamed, afraid to look at her face or turn to see his grandfather’s expression.

“When you want to provide information, or renounce your allegiance to the druids, the pain will stop,” Mr. Sands began, speaking over her screams.

“Why do you resist? You know it would be easier to give in, we’re offering you power and freedom, the likes of which the druids will strip from you,” he continued, annoyed when she started laughing.

“Why don’t you summon some tentacles and FUCK YOURSELF?” she shouted at a displeased Mr. Sands. Justin winced at that, knowing his grandfather would not be happy.

“Justin, the cattle prod would be more effective higher up her legs, and further in,” Mr. Sands instructed, annoyed when Justin pulled the cattle prod away and hesitated. The sound of his grandfather taking a step forward made Justin act, knowing if he didn’t do it his grandfather would. When the smell of burning flesh was too much for Justin he pulled away, looking at his grandfather.

“How much longer?” he asked, unable to look at the dark stains on Rebecca’s pants  where the cattle prod had been.

“Until she passed out or the druids’ hold is broken. Now, continue, unless you want me to take over,” Mr. Sands’ threat made Justin turn around, brace himself for the screams, and continue. He hoped she would give in or pass out, he wanted it to be over already.


	31. theseadontbotherme asked: I sees a request for prompts... Here ya go: 18. Tree

It had been some time since the shipwreck on this foreign land, and Pipaluk found herself both in awe and terrified as she ventured away from camp to search for edible vegetation and clean water. Perhaps the most alien thing to her was the trees. In the land she had come from it was mostly snow and ice, with rare periods of summer and sun where plants turned green. The trees there were small, stunted by the cold and dark, yet on this island the plants towered above her, so high she couldn’t even see the top of some of them. 

Besides the height of the trees there were special ones, ones that hummed with life that they had been warned against harming. They had been warned by the one who had saved them, a shining light that had directed their ships to safety. Well, ‘safety’ was a relative term, the ships were destroyed, but the strange figure that shone light the sun in the darkness had calmed the waters so that they could reach the shore without losing any of their people.

Stranger than the burning light that took the form of a woman was the creature that was her companion. It was a swift creature that glowed just as she did, walking on four long legs and large enough for the woman one to sit on it to be carried quickly across the land and sea. They called her Ulloriaq, as she shone like a star, but there were whispers in camp that she was the sun goddess Malina. The creature she rode was dubbed Atanarjuat for his speed. The goddess was amused by their names for her, she somehow understood them perfectly, furthering their belief that she was a goddess. 

Despite the goddess’ promise of safety, Pipaluk tried to walk as silently as possible through the forest as she scavenged. She heard a strange ripping and chomping sound that made the young woman freeze in terror, looking through the trees for the threat. Under one of the strange trees that held magic and power, and perhaps even a mind, were two shining figures. In the daylight they were no longer burning lights, instead the woman and creature only seemed to be glowing. The woman was leaning against the large tree, relaxed and perhaps even sleeping. The creature on the other hand was standing, its long neck and head stretched down to the ground, pulling up the grass with its mouth and eating it. 

The fear she felt ebbed as she wondered why a goddess and a goddess’ companion would need to do such mortal things as rest and eat something as normal as grass. But when the goddess’ eyes opened and looked at the exploring woman, the fear returned.


	32. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: Writing prompt: What happened to Connie (and Rebecca)?

She didn’t come by the Winery as often anymore, nor did he see her at North Link when he couldn’t sneak away from work. It wasn’t like they were even doing anything at North Link anymore, they were stuck until they either got new orders or new materials to continue their tunneling work. It was like GED had just stopped caring about their project there, but it meant he could get away with helping out at the winery. Except these days the winery was even slowing down, and he was growing more and more bored with each passing day.

Or perhaps that was just because she wasn’t coming around as much anymore. And when she did help around the winery she looked… serious. Her hard work work ethic hadn’t diminished, but something about her was more serious and solemn. Perhaps it had to do with the three girls who hung around the winery that Rebecca occasionally spoke to and rode off with. But he didn’t want to meddle in things that didn’t concern him. And it really wasn’t any of his concern if Rebecca wasn’t laughing or smiling anymore…

He kept telling himself that she could take care of herself, and she was on Jorvik what could possibly threaten her? It’s not like she was trying to stop the end of the world or people were out to kill her, she was just no longer happy for some reason, totally normal, not something he should ask her about…

He believed himself for a while, before he cracked and followed her down into the wine cellar, hoping to talk to her in private. He descended the stairs, trying to be quiet for some reason, he had the strange feeling like he had to be soft and undiscovered in order to talk to her like this. Silence greeted him, bewildering him. He expected to hear her feet or the scrape of wood and bottles from one of the rooms, but there was nothing. Very strange, he was sure he had seen her go down here just a few minutes ago, had she already made her way back out before he had come down?

“Rebecca?” he called, if one could call a whisper a call. His word was quiet enough that it didn’t echo, but of course that probably meant it hadn’t traveled far either. He crept through the cellar hallways, peeking into rooms and trying to find her.

She was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, her arms wrapped around her legs, knees pressed to her chest and her head resting on her knees, staring blankly ahead. She wore the same blank expression he had grown all too familiar with over the last several days.

“Rebecca? Are… are you okay?” she didn’t blink, or move, or give any indication that she had heard him. He stepped closer, crouching down and touching her arm.

“Hey… hello? What’s going on?” he tried again but was met with the same blank expression.

“I can’t tell you. It’ll put you in danger,” her words broke the silence that was making Connie uncomfortable. He blinked and shook his head, sitting next to her.

“That’s silly! What could possibly be going on that’ll put me in danger?” he tried to smile and joke, but his attempts at being light hearted was met with her eyes glistening and tears streaming down her face.

“Hey! Hey it’s- you’ll- it’s okay!” he fumbled over words, not sure what to say to her as she started sobbing into her knees. Unsure of any words that would comfort her he reached his arm over her, hooking his hand on her far shoulder and leaned her into him. He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that she latched onto him, sobbing into his shirt, but at least this was progress, right? 

Minutes passed as she cried, and he remained at a loss as to what could have upset her or scared her this much. He came to the only logical conclusion, braced himself, and asked her.

“Is it Mr. Kembell? Is he threatening you?”

To Connie’s surprise, and slight unsettlement, Rebecca started laughing. She lifted her head up from his chest, wiping away her tears as she laughed at some joke he didn’t understand.

“I guess I should be worried about that, too,” she said as her laughing died down. 

“If it isn’t Mr. Kembell, what is it?” he tried again, her amused expression dying as she shook her head and leaned against him once more, wanting to cuddle him rather than talk about it.

“I’m sworn to secrecy, I can’t tell you even if I wanted to,” she explained.

“I don’t like secrets,” he mumbled in a pout, knowing that wasn’t going to help the situation but still not feeling left out of the loop, and a pretty serious loop at that.

“And I don’t like you dying. You’re safer if you don’t know. Maybe… maybe when it’s over I’ll be able to tell you,” she offered that possibility, going quiet when Connie began to stroke her hair.

“Promise me you’ll be fine and I won’t ask anymore,” her silence was not reassuring.

“I’ll try. As long as I have Midnightwarrior I’ll be safe,” she skipped the ‘well probably’ part of that statement, but he had a feeling it was there even though she didn’t say it.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he was’t going to try to pursue her safety, sure that would just end in her clamming up and not talking anymore. 

“Stay away from me and act like you don’t know me,” she mumbled, not looking at him.

“What? Why? Why would I do that?” he pulled away from her so that he could look at her face better.

“Because if they know we’re friends they might go after you!” 

“Is that why you haven’t been around as often? You’re trying to protect me or something ridiculous?” her insistence that they stop being friends scared him, but so did the idea of not seeing her, and he couldn’t help but start to feel angry that she might be cutting him out on purpose.

“It isn’t ridiculous! These are dangerous people, and they aren’t above kidnapping and Aideen knows what else! They’ve hurt Midnightwarrior before-”

“Then you should go to the police if they’re that dangerous!” he cut her off, not liking that they were descending into a fight, but he couldn’t stop the words from leaving him.

“The police can’t do anything! Look, I’m not on my own, I’m helping people with this stuff, but for right now it’s too dangerous to have friends outside of those people already involved,” she tried to explain, tried to reassure him, but it didn’t work.

“So what, you can tell other people about this but not me? I’m not important enough? I’m just someone you can cut out of your life and it’s no big deal?” his accusations hurt her, making her grit her teeth and fight back tears. This was good, if he was angry with her he would stop talking to her. It wasn’t ideal but it would work to protect him.

“What? That’s it? I’m just out of your life?” he demanded when she was silent, refusing to say anything. His chest ached as she glared at him, remaining silent. His eyes began to burn and he hastily pushed her away, standing up and trying to leave before he started to cry. But he had not done it quickly enough, and his tears chipped away at her resolve.

“Fine then! I’ll leave!” he didn’t mean to shout as he stomped out of the room. He had to get out of here, he couldn’t stay, he needed to be alone and sort everything out in his head, and he could hear her scrambling to her feet and chasing after him.

“What? I’m leaving like you want! Isn’t this what you want?” the anger kept his tears from falling, but also hurt him when he saw her balk at his intensity, her determination waning at the glare he gave her when he looked back at her.

“No…” she admitted, looking at her feet and wiping her face. His hurt diminished, afraid to hope that she might not send him away.

“Then what? What do you want?” his words were softer, and he found himself turning to face her fully, stepping closer to her. She stared at the floor, debating, he could see her thinking and considering her next move. He braced himself for something like how she wanted him to be safe and he would be safer if he stayed away from her. He waited for those words when she took a deep breath and looked up at him, he was prepared for the hurt she was going to cause him.

He wasn’t prepared for her to kiss him.


	33. mad-li asked: Please PLEASE do a romantic one between Justin and Rebecca PLEASE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, that I can do! This’ll be taking place somewhere after the whole tortured and escaped thing. By the way I kinda wrote a lot more on accident but I cut it out. if you guys want to see the dream Justin had, just let me know and i’ll post it too.

“Justin!” Rebecca’s voice called, waking him from his nightmare. He jerked awake, startled to see her leaning over his bed and shaking him to wake him up. Still partially in the dream he backed away from her in fear and she let him go, raising her hands and not making a move toward him.

“I’m sorry, you were having a nightmare… I could hear you from the room I was sleeping in,” she explained as he rubbed his face, becoming more aware of his surroundings and realizing it was just a terrible dream. He realized he had been crying in his sleep considering how wet his face was.

“Right… sorry for waking you,” he mumbled, remembering that they were staying at the same inn in Valedale to be protected by the druids.

“It’s fine… I wasn’t really sleeping anyway. What happened in your dream? If you don’t mind telling me,” she added the last part hastily. He shook his head, looking away. She bit her lip, extending one hand for a moment before hesitating, not sure if she should touch him. Her hand caught the moonlight, Justin looking with guilt at the scars on her hand from melting steel when she was escaping.

“Ahh, sorry, I should probably go,” she mumbled, withdrawing and blushing as she realized she was in his bedroom, alone with him, at night. His hand on her wrist stopped her from getting off to bed and caught her attention. She expected him to say something but he remained silent, bringing her back onto the bed by her wrist and studying her hand in the moonlight. She looked away, unable to stand the sight of her hands, but she was keenly aware of Justin’s fingers, gently feeling her hand, tracing the scars. He brought her hand to his lips, kissing it softly and making her look at him in surprise. Her stunned expression made him let go, worried that he had crossed a line. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” he apologized in a rush, turning red and pulling away. He swallowed, closing his eyes when she touched his face, rubbing away the last stray tears on his face. He felt her shift on the bed, leaning closer to him, his heart pounding when she kissed his forehead.

“It’ll be morning soon, try to get some sleep,” she whispered to him, pulling away from his forehead so she could see his face. 

“You know that… that I care about you, right?” he blushed and hoped she understood what he meant. Her nod wasn’t a good indicator of if she actually understood or not.

“Of course, and I care about you, why else would I try to save you?” her answer was also not helpful in telling him if she understood or reciprocated. His expression made her go silent, studying him as he found himself looking at her lips. He found that his hand was reaching for her face, halting before he touched her cheek.

“Justin, do you want to kiss me?” Rebecca whispered, looking from his extended hand to his face. He swallowed hard.

“Very much,” he breathed, withdrawing his hand and looking away in embarrassment.

“I’m glad,” she confessed with a small smile.

“Really? But, I-” he stammered in confusion until she shushed him before he could speak more.

“Lie down and close your eyes, you’ll drift off soon enough,” she told him and after looking at her for another moment he nodded and obeyed. He sighed as he relaxed into his pillow and blankets, not sure if he would be able to sleep. The mattress shifted as Rebecca stood up, and he kept his eyes close when he felt her hair brush over his face for a moment. His heart skipped when he felt her lips on his, giving him a short, chaste kiss before she left the room.


	34. theseadontbotherme asked: 14. Teaching

“I’m about 89% sure you’re making this up,” Rebecca mumbled as she sat surrounded by flowers and random rune stones.

“What? Of course not! I was trained like this when I was becoming a druid, it’s tradition!” Elizabeth said, offended that Rebecca would even suggest that Elizabeth was making it up. Rebecca refrained from rolling her eyes but motioned for Elizabeth to continue her lecture.

“Now then, the lesson I am teaching you today, as I said, is about expanding your senses. You will learn how to expand into nature, sense it all around you, so as to be better attuned to the subtle changes of the island,” Elizabeth continued once more, placing more flowers around Rebecca.

“Close your eyes and imagine a door in your mind, separating yourself from what is beyond,” Elizabeth instructed.

“I’m not really a visual person, like I don’t see things in my head. It’s more auditory and based on words rather than images…” Rebecca interjected, annoying Elizabeth.

“Then imagine a door that way, perhaps the sound of a door when you touch it or a literal description of the door in your mind,” Elizabeth continued after a sigh, not noticing Rebecca open one eye and glance at Elizabeth in confusion.

“Now, open the door in your mind, reach outside of it. Empty your mind of yourself and stretch out around you. Feel the grass and earth beneath you, smell the flowers around you, listen to the birds and rustling of the wind,” Elizabeth’s voice got softer and Rebecca tried to do as instructed. At first nothing really happened and Rebecca was convinced this was actually some joke. But when Elizabeth offered no further instructions Rebecca tried to take it more seriously, imagining that she was no longer a body, but simply a part of the world around her. 

And the most incredible thing was, she felt everything. It wasn’t a slow and gradual awareness of the birds overhead and the distant river and the smell of the earth warming in the sun. It came all at once, as though she was the last piece of a puzzle and now that she was snapped into place she could see everything perfectly. It wasn’t just her immediate surroundings, she became aware of animals in the forest, riders in Everwind Fields, the fish in the river and the ocean, the busy streets of the cities, the wolves in the mountains, the network of caves that laced underneath them, it was amazing!

“Well done!” Elizabeth declared, clapping, startling Rebecca out of her… whatever it was. Zone or mediation or something weird. What puzzled Rebecca was that Elizabeth was holding a watch in her hand, as if she had been timing how long it took for Rebecca to sense everything.

“I thought you would make a fuss about how it wasn’t working, but you passed!” the wording of Elizabeth’s congratulations confused the trainee.

“What do you mean I passed?”

“You followed my instructions, and with minimum questioning and backtalk. This was a lesson teaching obedience!” Rebecca blinked and tilted her head at Elizabeth’s words.

“An obedience test? So I wasn’t supposed to feel the forest or whatever?” Rebecca asked and was perplexed when Elizabeth laughed.

“Of course not! We’re human, we can’t just extend our mind into the surrounding areas and make some psychic connection to the entire forest. And why would we need to? We know nature’s patterns, we can see when things are going wrong, we don’t need magic to tell us that!” Elizabeth explained, amused that Rebecca had believed that such a thing was possible, although it did mean that Rebecca listened to instructions well. Avalon and Fripp would be happy with that.

“Heh, right, that makes sense…” Rebecca managed to say, standing up and brushing herself off with a laugh. Elizabeth beckoned for her to follow her back to Valedale, and Rebecca followed in silence. She wanted to say something, about how she had been able to feel everything, she knew where every blade of grass and insect over all of Jorvik was when she had followed Elizabeth’s instructions. Was she really not supposed to be able to do that?


	35. mystical-nature-nerd asked: *slams fists on table* MORE ANGST! MORE TORTURE! MORE INSANITY!

Justin wasn’t entirely sure what he had expected when he met his paternal grandfather, but a wealthy billionaire with two young women following him around and living on an oil rig off the coast of Jorvik was not it. Neither was the portal to another dimension, the super powers, and their offer to Justin. He had expected maybe a kinda weird old guy like Jasper on a boat somewhere that was happy to be reunited with his long lost grandson. But hey, at least his grandfather had been happy to see him.

“That’s why we need you, Justin, we can’t succeed without you,” Justin’s grandfather finished explaining. It was something crazy about how there was this Garnok demon monster thing near Jorvik that was connected to another dimension called Pandoria, and if Justin helped them they’d be able to harness Garnok and Pandoria’s energy to power the entire world. It would make them all fabulously wealthy as well as ensure that no one ever was without affordable power again. Jorvik would no doubt become rich along with them, as the center of Dark Core’s operations. 

“I don’t understand fully, how am I supposed to help again? I don’t know anything about electrical systems or magic or drilling,” that was the part that Justin didn’t yet understand. Somehow he, and three other people including the two girls Sabine and Jessica, were supposed to somehow free and control Garnok. His grandfather took in a patient breath, paying no attention to the impatient girls standing behind Justin.

“You are the last Dark Rider we need to complete The Dark Ceremony. Katja will soon be with us once more and our numbers will be complete,” Mr. Sands explained, interrupted by Sabine who touched Justin’s shoulder, getting his attention.

“And don’t worry about magic or powers, we’ll soon get your horse to you, and then you’ll learn the necessary magic and abilities to be a full Dark Rider,” Sabine explained with an excited smile that was a bit unnerving to Justin. It was too wide, he felt like human mouths weren’t supposed to open that much.

“What’s the rush? Why now? And how do you even know that here is some tentacle demon that we can control?” Justin looked back to his grandfather, trying to ignore Sabine’s hand on his shoulder.

“The Keepers of Aideen are moving against us, they don’t understand and so they want to stop us from freeing Garnok,” his grandfather explained, but it only confused Justin more.

“Aren’t they just like, druids who live in the woods and keep the forest clean? Is Garnok like, evil or something and that’s why they don’t want to risk him being free?” Justin’s questions earned him a snicker from the three around him.

“Evil is such a… harsh word. Tell me, is night time evil because it is darker than the day?” Mr. Sands asked and Justin shook his head, not understanding.

“Exactly, they fear us because we are dark, because we use the necessary methods to achieve our goals,” the grandfather explained to his grandson who shook his head.

“But… so the ends justify the means? And it’s not like you’re being selfless here, controlling Garnok and that energy will make you very rich and powerful,” Justin was starting to feel uncomfortable, a knot in his gut growing steadily tighter.

“But of course! We did the work, so why shouldn’t we be rewarded? We’re the only ones strong and intelligent enough to do this, why not take advantage of it?” this time it was Jessica who spoke, putting her hand on the shoulder opposite Sabine. 

“But… how come we’re strong enough to control some demon? And how do we even know about him? How do we know he isn’t some myth like Aideen and the Lost City of Atlantis?” Sabine and Jessica laughed and Mr. Sands chuckled.

“Oh Aideen was real, we fought her. Laverne took care of her though,” Sabine declared through giggles and Jessica directed Justin’s face to look at her.

“We’re offering you everything, riches, power, magic, you can become the most powerful man in the world. And when you get tired of being a mortal in failing flesh, you can become immortal,” Jessica cooed, tempting him.

“But… that’s not possible…” Justin mumbled, looking away from Jessica and back to his grandfather.

“We killed a creation goddess, and we have been preparing a very long time for this. You can have the entire world, you can stay by my side and be with us, without a care in the world for the rest of eternity. What do you say?” Justin stared at his grandfather, his throat tight as he considered everything. What had started as just a bad feeling had turned into full blown terror.

“What are you?” Justin whispered, glancing between the three of them.

“We are the ones offering you all the power in the world until the end of time,” Jessica whispered in one year while Sabine bent down and spoke in the other, “We are immortal being of infinite magic and power, here to grant your every desire.”

“What do you say?” Mr. Sands asked and Justin looked at him, swallowing hard.

“No. I don’t want this,” Justin declared a bit timidly, afraid of what would happen. 

“Perhaps not, but you will,” Mr. Sands said with a confident smirk, waving to the girls. The gentle hands on his shoulders turned sharp and strong, yanking from the chair he was sitting in. Despite his struggles they dragged him easily down the halls, Mr. Sands walking behind them with an amused expression.

“Let go of me!” Justin shouted, thrashing all the way until they reached the portal he had seen from a distance. They forced him down into a kneeling position, as though he was bowing to the portal.

“As you wish,” Sabine teased, letting Justin go after making him bow.

“You’re all insane!” Justin rushed to his feet and looked at the three surrounding him. None of them made a move to stop him, and Justin didn’t wait for them to move closer, bolting and immediately falling onto his face.

“What?” he struggled to get up, glancing at his foot and seeing a tendril of shadow from the floor hooked around his ankle. Despite its slender appearance it was strong enough to yank him back into a now glowing circle, more tendrils latching onto him and forcing him into a kneeling position. 

“It would have been easier if you had just agreed. But I am generous, you will still be given the world, even if you don’t think you want it,” Mr. Sands walked in front of Justin, silhouetted by the glow of the portal behind him.

“You are evil… aren’t you?” Justin whispered, trying to wriggle out of the darkness that was entangling him. Mr. Sands smirked.

“I suppose I have been called that before. Am I evil for believing the strongest should be in power? No need to answer that, I’ll know your thoughts soon enough,” the grandfather cocked his head to the side, looking at Justin as though his grandson was a fascinating clock that he was going to take apart to see how it worked. Before Justin could respond a tentacle of black energy covered his mouth, muffling him. All Justin could do was shake his head, begging his grandfather with his eyes and muted grunts to stop this. His grandfather had no interest in his pleas, placing his hands on the sides of Justin’s head, his fingers passing through Justin’s skull and entering into his mind. The last thing Justin remembered before being overwhelmed by pain was Sabine and Jessica laughing, their laughs sounding too deep and animalistic to be human.


	36. Anonymous asked: The dream! I need it! Tell us what Justins dream was!

“You’re pathetic and weak! I won’t have a grandson as worthless as you!”  
“So foolish, a pretty face bats her eyes at you and you betray us!”  
“You don’t have it in you, you never did.”  
“You were never going to be good enough.”

The words and faces swam around Justin, taunting and mocking him from the darkness that surrounded them. His grandfather and the three girls were either cursing him or laughing at him, and he wasn’t sure which was worse.

“Shut up! You lied to me! Go away!” he shouted, trying to banish them as they loomed closer.

“We lied to you? We told you nothing but the truth! The druids stand between us and energy independence for centuries, they don’t understand Garnok and so they fear Garnok. We just want to provide power to the entire world, we’d solve the energy crisis! Pure and clean energy, isn’t that more environmentally friendly than anything the druids have proposed?” Mr. Sands stepped forward, causing Justin to step back, shaking his head.

“That’s a load of manure! You don’t care about helping people, you just want power!” Justin shouted back to what Mr. Sands had said, and behind him one of the girls laughed.

“Oh and the druids don’t? What are they doing? How are they helping people? Their magic and potions can cure many things, yet they guard that selfishly for their own purposes! You’ve seen their healing magic yourself, you know how powerful it is, but have you ever seen them use it on someone who wasn’t in their ranks?” Sabine scoffed and Justin turned to face her.

“Shut up! They have to be secret and- I don’t have to defend what the druids do to you!”

“More like you can’t defend the druids, after all, they could have saved your mother, yet they let her die in childbirth,” Katja chimed in, smirking at the moment of pain Justin felt at the mention of his mother, and Jessica spoke before he could tell them to shut up.

“But then they wouldn’t have needed to save her if it weren’t for you. You’re the reason she’s dead, the only thing you’re good for is hurting others,” Jessica laughed when Justin shook his head, trying to not believe what she was saying even though it was a thought that had crossed his mind many times.

“That’s not true! You’re just trying to confuse me!” he managed, startled when he felt Mr. Sands’ grip his shoulders from behind.

“Confuse you? Oh no, we’re just trying to get you to see what you’ve done. From the moment of your birth you’ve done nothing but hurt others. You killed your mother, which hurt your father and Jasper. Then you hurt your father, again, and all your friends by abandoning them and joining us. And of course you hurt her, oh you hurt your precious friend quite a bit, didn’t you?” Justin tried to close his eyes and look away from Rebecca, broken and bloody and chained as a ‘present’ for him.

“You made me! I didn’t want to hurt her!”

“You didn’t have to hurt her, Sands would have done it if you didn’t, but you decided that proving yourself was more important than her pain, your pride and selfish desires was more important than her,” Rebecca was crying as Jessica spoke, standing over the broken girl and grinning at Justin.

“I… no. No! I don’t care about that stuff! I care about her!” Justin shouted, rushing to Rebecca’s sobbing form.

“Oh really? Would you take her place? If you could, would you switch places with her?” Mr. Sands’ hands hauled Justin back and Justin realized there were chains around his wrists and a cattle prod in Rebecca’s hands.

“Would you?” Mr. Sands asked in a whisper, standing behind Rebecca now.

“Why did you do it, Justin? I thought you cared about me,” Rebecca asked, standing up, looking like she was about to start crying again.

“I’m sorry… I wish…. I wish I- I’m so sorry, I wish I could take the pain away,” he choked, his remorse turning to fear as Rebecca’s expression turned ugly with hate.

“But you didn’t. You had the chance to stop, but you decided you had to be the one to hurt me. You’re a liar and a traitor,” Rebecca spat, her knuckles around the cattle prod turning white.

“I wish it had been me being tortured,” Justin confessed and to his terror Rebecca smiled wickedly.

“Oh really? I doubt that,” she thrust the cattle rod into Justin’s chest.


	37. stormiesquall asked: 23. Master Plan

“You haven’t told your parents yet, have you? You have been staying with me, you haven’t gone home yet,” Alex asked Anne who was snuggled up on her on the couch.

“Uhh, no. Not yet. I mean… I’m not really sure how to go about it in a way that won’t be awkward,” Anne mumbled, moving her hair behind her ear sheepishly.

“Awkward how? They’ll be happy that you’re back!” Alex giggled when Anne groaned and nuzzled Alex’s stomach for a momentary distraction.

“What am I supposed to tell them? ‘Oh hello mother, hello father, don’t mind me I’m back after being missing for two years! Don’t worry, I was just in an alternate dimension for a while trying to keep my soul from being consumed!’” Anne acted out, making Alex giggle more at the overdramatic motions Anne used.

“I get your point, but you have to have some master plan to announce your return, you can’t just avoid your parents forever, they’ll find out you’re back eventually,” Alex returned to a more serious mood, rubbing Anne’s back. 

“You know what? That’s my plan!” Anne sat up suddenly in declaration, confusing Alex.

“Uhh, what?”

“I’ll just tell them I’ve been in Pandoria and Concorde is still missing! They totally won’t believe that I have magic abilities and without Concorde I can’t really open portals to show them I’m telling the truth, and that’s where you come in!” Anne’s excitement worried Alex.

“I don’t like this plan…” Alex mumbled as Anne continued.

“You just gotta generate some lightning and back up my story! I doubt Fripp would be willing to come tell my parents that I’m involved in a secret magic war on Jorvik, but if you show off your powers that should be enough to convince them!” Anne bounced on the couch, bouncing Alex in turn.

“Please tell me you are joking,” Alex begged, horrified at what her parents might do or say. 

“If I tell them the truth they won’t believe me without proof, and I have no other explanation for disappearing for two years. They probably thought I was kidnapped or something! But yes, I am joking. I’d bring Lisa and Linda and some of the druids. My parents might not believe a few of my friends, but if we get adults their own age then hopefully that’ll be enough of an explanation,” Anne assured her lover who relaxed as she realized it would not just be her and Anne’s parents. 

“So when are we gonna do this?” Alex asked after Anne had relaxed on the couch next to her.

“I dunno, you really want me gone that badly?” Anne teased and pouted.

“Of course not, but you’re right, your parents think you were kidnapped, and with their money they no doubt have their own private eye army out looking for you. I’d rather not have them barge in and think I’ve been keeping you in my closet all this time,” Anne snickered and Alex rolled her eyes.

“Fair enough, when we meet with the Keepers today I’ll talk to them about it, I’m sure they’ll be willing to help. Wouldn’t want my parents to lock me in my room to try to keep me out of a war,” Anne mused and Alex giggled.

“That would just be tempting all the fates and irony, locking the princess away in a tower,” Alex teased, kissing Anne’s hair.

“Oh no! I’ll have to wait for a charming warrior to come break me out and recuse me and carry me off into the sunset…” Anne kissed Alex as her voice trailed off, giggling at the idea. Alex would have said something about how Anne could break out of her own tower, but the kissing thoroughly distracted her.


	38. stormiesquall asked: 7. Night School

Rebecca had come to Jorvik for the horses, that was true, the horses and the horse programs they had here had drawn her to this place across an ocean. But Jorvik was unique in a way that attracted her to the island: the stars. She adored the night sky, and she was thirsty for knowledge and understanding about what lay beyond Earth’s atmosphere. An island with a focus on horses and stars, how could she not go there?

Amusing enough, even though the horses had taken precedence over the stars, she had been paired with a horse that seemed as fascinated with the sky as she. They spent many nights watching the sky together, out in the open fields away from the lights of the towns, simply looking upward. She knew Midnightwarrior had to be looking at the sky, as he often had both ears trained on the lights above, only moving an ear for her if she spoke. She didn’t know what he heard up there, but it certainly had his attention.

This fascination with the sky led her to be fond of the observatory, and one evening she found herself and Midnightwarrior knocking on the door, hoping to get to talk to Mario before he started working for the night.

“Ah, Rebecca! What are you doing here at this late hour?” Mario asked when he opened the door.

“This may be strange, and I understand if it isn’t allowed, but I was wondering if we, well, if I, could study with you? I’ve always been interested in astronomy, I was even hoping to go into astronomy or astrophysics or some related field here on Jorvik. I don’t know if you would be interested in doing a sort of night school thing with me, I can help around the observatory and learn the ropes, be good experience if I ever end up getting an internship or something at an observatory like this…” she started rambling, but Mario smiled and laughed, waving away her fears.

“Of course, mon cheri! I would be happy to teach you what I know, the AAE is always looking for new students hungry to learn!” he assured her, opening the door and letting her inside. He was surprised when Midnightwarrior also came inside, and suppressed a laugh when Midnightwarrior sniffed over the machines and stuck his head into the telescope, trying to understand why humans liked looking into such a tiny little piece of glass.


	39. Anonymous asked: What happens if Justin and Connie meet?

Connie sat on the ground near North Link. He had been required to come to work and wasn’t allowed to leave, although nothing was getting done. Machines were running but they were standing idle, burning gas and spewing smoke. Still no revised instructions, and no new materials to continue the drilling. He gave a look at the other crewman closer to the mouth of the tunnel, one were walking around in bored circles, a few were gathered into a card game, and he was quite sure two of them were sleeping partially on top of each other. Deciding that nothing was going to get done in the next few hours he decided to risk going for a walk toward the winery. It had to be more interesting up there, even if the only thing he could do was sit in the library inside or the cellar. Given how hot it was already, he had a feeling he’d want to spend as much time inside as possible. The sun had only been up for a few hours, he didn’t think it was even 11 AM, but he was already sweating. It was going to be a hot day.

He was pleased to hear the sound of hoofbeats approaching him on the road to the winery, seeing Rebecca and some guy riding across the Everwind Fields toward the winery. Midnightwarrior slowed and came up along side Connie, Rebecca waving and smiling down at him.

“Heyas! Leaving North Link?” she asked, the guy halting his horse beside hers and looking at her impatiently.

“Yeah, we’re not doing anything, they won’t notice if I’m gone for a few hours to escape the heat,” Connie laughed, realizing she was wearing long sleeves and gloves. The gloves made sense, but the long sleeves did not. 

“Smart plan,” she commented, her attention drawn to her riding companion.

“We should hurry, the others are waiting for us,” the other guy chimed in with a nod toward the Winery.

“Of course, but I can still give Connie a lift to the winery if he wants one, Connie?” Rebecca offered a hand to get up. He took her hand, scrambling up onto Midnightwarrior and hesitantly wrapping an arm around her waist to hold on.

“Oh! Connie, this is Justin. Justin, Connie,” Rebecca introduced, turning Midnightwarrior toward the winery and going at an easy walk until Connie got comfortable.

“Pleasure,” Justin nodded to Connie, apparently not happy by the slower pace.

“Likewise,” Connie greeted with a wave before he turned his attention to the girl in front of him.

“The others, are the ones you keep meeting with at the Winery, isn’t it? The ones in on the secret?” Connie was quiet, not sure he wanted Justin to hear this just in case Justin wasn’t in on whatever the secret was. Rebecca sighed and nodded, clearly not willing to go into the topic.

“So you can trust him with this secret but not me?” Connie bit his tongue immediately after saying those words, not surprised when Rebecca turned her head and glared at him. He knew he deserved the glare, that was uncalled for even if he was hurt.

“That’s not fair, you don’t know Justin or what his involvement is,” she snapped and, unfortunately, had attracted Justin’s attention.

“I know, I shouldn’t have said that… I just wish I knew what was happening. I’ve hardly seen you since we talked in the cellar, I feel like it’s been weeks since I’ve seen you around the winery. I’m… I’m worried,” he mumbled the last part, lowering his head to her ear for only her to hear.

“I told you, I can’t tell you. And I won’t put you in danger by telling you either!” she hissed, her heart pounding. Justin saw her growing pale, recognizing that she was getting anxious.

“It’s none of your concern, Connie, let the lady have her secrets,” Justin interjected, hoping that would help take the pressure off of Rebecca so she could calm down.

“So you can look out for her but if I’m worried about her I’m crossing a line? Who do you think you are anyway?” Connie’s anger got the better of him and he snapped at Justin, wondering who this guy was to just appear out of no where with the idea that he could butt into a private conversation between him and Rebecca.

“Stop it! Both of you knock it out!” Rebecca cut them off before they could escalate further. She then turned her head to look back at Connie, getting his attention and lifting a hand to her mouth, putting a finger between her teeth.

“You don’t have to show him-” Justin said hastily, knowing she hated people seeing her hands. Connie, however, did not understand what was making Justin so worried or why Rebecca was peeling off one of her gloves. His eyes widened in horror when he saw the bright scars on her fingers, so focused on her hand that he didn’t notice Justin sighing and looking away with a guilty expression.

“This is what I’m keeping from you. Are you really sure you want to know what is going on?” Rebecca asked Connie, too determined to make a point to feel self conscious at the moment. Connie gulped, too stunned to answer before she put the glove back over her hand.

“What happened?” Connie managed to ask, trying to process what he had seen. How far did those scars go? Was that why she was wearing long sleeves on such a hot day?

“Molten steel. And that was me getting lucky,” her words made him go quiet for a while. Before he was just worried about her, but now he was terrified. Molten steel on her hand was getting lucky? What kind of hell had she gone through? He glanced a look at Justin who looked equally terrible: serious and grim, looking straight ahead as he road. His stomach clenched, and Connie decided to not say anything more until he was sure he wasn’t going to get ill from his imagination.


	40. Anonymous asked: Pls for Drake/Becca. Ms Drecca? Rebeccake? I dunno, I just want some fic with those two in a romantic or smutty sense. Pretty please?

The smell of coffee made Ms. Drake smile, looking up from her desk to see her favorite employee. Well, “favorite” as in the one she could tolerate the best and “employee” as in someone who did her bidding, not someone she paid. Given Rebecca’s track record, Ms. Drake was sure if she got employment she would be sent elsewhere, her talents were too good to be used here. No doubt one of Ms. Drake’s bosses would want Rebecca for their own uses, and Ms. Drake was far too possessive to let that happen. No one else was nearly as effective or as good about bringing coffee as Rebecca was, and Ms. Drake didn’t want to lose that.

“I thought you might want some fresh coffee,” Rebecca explained as though an explanation was needed. By this point Rebecca knew that Ms. Drake would need another cup of coffee around this time, and Ms. Drake had gotten used to Rebecca showing up with a fresh drink around this time. It was like clockwork at this point.

“Oh, you’re just trying to get on my good side so I actually hire you,” Ms. Drake smirked, taking the offered coffee.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” the young woman chirped, surprised when Ms. Drake motioned toward the chair across the desk from her. Normally they exchanged a bit of small talk, talked about the current state of the operation here in Jorvik, and then Rebecca left. Sitting down was a new thing for Rebecca, and she seemed a bit confused about what was going to happen.

“You know, I’ve had my share of eager interns willing to do anything for a job, and assistants willing to do anything to keep their job. It’s surprising that you are the first one to just do your job, and do it well, without any annoying hints at payment or making passes,” Mr. Drake began, surprised when Rebecca let out a laugh.

“I can’t imagine that ending well for them! Who cares how good someone is in bed if they can’t do their job well? Seems like a poor way to decide who to keep and who to get rid of,” Rebecca explained why she had laughed, and Ms. Drake nodded in agreement.

“They normally end up getting quite desperate and extreme in their offers, yet you haven’t reached that point yet,” Ms. Drake teased, Rebecca’s amused expression fading as she thought.

“Should I be getting desperate to stay here?” Rebecca asked seriously before her lips twisted into a devilish smile, “Or are you upset I’m not giving the attention and offers you are used to?” Rebecca’s smile widened when Ms. Drake’s turned pink.

“Well then! This is a surprise! But I won’t give in to your desires,” Rebecca teased, and Ms. Drake’s expression turned dark. She was not above threats to get what she wanted.

“After all, that would be terribly unprofessional of me, bribing you with dates and lewd acts. I’d much rather see you for personal reasons that do not affect our work relationship,” Rebecca continued before Ms. Drake could vocalize her threats.

“Ah? Is that so? I am a woman who gets what she wants, and for reasons completely unrelated to work, I want you to lock that door,” Ms. Drake instructed, adding an embarrassed, “if that is what you meant, of course.”

“Skipping the dates, I see. And yes, you read the situation and my words correctly,” Rebecca smiled and stood, walking over to the door and locking it so that there would be no interruptions. She was surprised that Ms. Drake had expressed a moment of a lack of control, giving Rebecca the opportunity to say no. Given the type of woman that Ms. Drake was, Rebecca couldn’t help but find it touching, almost endearing. 


	41. stormiesquall asked: More AnnexAlex fluff please? :3

One thing that Anne was very interested in after returning from Pandoria was catching up on the world. Two years is a long time to miss out on, whether it was tv shows or fashion or world politics. But the most important part, naturally, was catching up on popular youtube videos.

It had already been agreed that she and Alex would talk to the druids today about some help with telling Anne’s parents that she was back from her imprisonment in another dimension, but Anne was able to get onto Alex’s computer while Alex took a shower. Luckily computers hadn’t changed too much in the past few years, and youtube was still going strong so Anne wouldn’t have to flounder trying to figure out the newest video sharing platform. 

“Is that me?” she muttered to herself when she opened up the main page of youtube, surprised by the recommended list of videos: they were for the most part dressage performances. Based on the little “watched” text on the video preview, Alex had already watched all the ones with Anne in them already. She couldn’t help but smile, figuring out where Alex’s watch history was as well as her favorites and discovering that Anne’s dressage competitions made up a large portion of the videos saved.

“Someone’s a bit obsessed with me,” Anne teased when she heard Alex leave the bathroom.

“Mm? Who?” Alex called from the bedroom, getting dressed.

“Don’t worry, I think it’s cute,” Anne moved and nodded toward the computer screen when Alex came into the room. Alex blushed and rushed to the computer as though she could hide the evidence even though it was already too late.

“Ah sorry! Is that weird? It’s probably weird, I’m so weird-” Alex fretted, exiting out of youtube and blushing furiously.

“Nonsense,” Anne gave Alex a kiss on the cheek, amused by how hot the skin was, “it is very flattering. Would you like an autograph from your favorite dressage rider?”

“I’d much prefer a kiss, or would your ego like for me to create a shrine with your posters and headbands I’ve stolen over the years?” Alex joked right back, happy that she got a kiss for her efforts.

“Wait, do you have my light blue headband with pink polka dots that I’ve been missing since like, our last year of high school?” Anne inquired in a very serious tone, giving Alex a playful flick on the forehead when Alex grinned sheepishly.

“Where is it! I really liked that one!” Anne demanded, rushing to Alex’s room to try to find the stolen headband. Alex followed, laughing and trying to beat Anne before Anne could tear her room apart.

“It’s up here,” Alex assured Anne who was busy rummaging under Alex’s bed. Anne looked up to Alex who was pointing to a box at the top of her closet. 

“I did mean to give it back, I just kept forgetting,” Alex apologized sheepishly, pulling the headband out of the box and giving it to Anne. Anne wiped the dust from the old headband and placed it on her head when she was satisfied that it was clean.

“I know the feeling, I probably still have something of yours still hidden in my room somewhere, assuming my parents haven’t torn it apart for some reason,” Anne assured her and posed for her to evaluate.

“How does it look?” Anne asked, receiving and kiss from Alex.

“Adorable, as always,” Alex murmured to her lover, making Anne blush and smile.


	42. Anonymous asked: More Ms Drake and Rebecca, pleaseplease! :D

This was certainly an unexpected twist in events that Rebecca had not anticipated. Yet here she was, leaving Ms. Drake’s office after a rather strange hour of her life. She had originally done this in order to get in with GED so that it would be easier to sabotage their projects around Jarlaheim. It hadn’t even been her idea, it was Herman’s to find out what was going on with GED, how they had gotten the legal rights to the minerals around Jorvik, where the Mayor had disappeared to, and all the other shady business that GED seemed connected to. 

She wasn’t sure Herman had realized it would go this far, or if he had intended for her to go this far to help him out. Not that she was planning on telling him what had transpired between her and Ms. Drake, or that she would be seeing Ms. Drake later that evening.

What she would tell Herman was that she had gotten it in with Ms. Drake, not explaining her literal meaning, and that she now had access to a lot of confidential GED information. Lucky for her, Ms. Drake got incredibly sleepy after their, ahem, sessions. Unlucky for her, she realized she was actually growing fond of Ms. Drake. That did not bode well for her, nor did the fact that Ms. Drake was a dangerous and desperate woman who was not above violence. 

Rebecca knew that Ms. Drake was getting frantic, after all this time Ms. Drake had yet to produce any results for her superiors, and GED did not take well to ineffective employees who could not get results. The fact that it was Rebecca’s fault was beginning to make her feel guilty. Perhaps there really wasn’t anything around Jarlaheim worth mining, maybe there was. Something had attracted GED to this area, and whatever it was worried Herman enough to risk arrest to sabotage GED to protect it. 

She checked her phone for the time as she patted Midnightwarrior before mounting. She had several hours to get things done before she needed to be back to meet Ms. Drake, and a part of her wanted time to grab some fresh clothes to look more presentable for that night.


	43. Anonymous asked: Prompt: Fripp mourning over the many deaths and reincarnations of the manu different soul riders because tbh I feel bad for him because his best friends never remember him

In a white and clean bed in a hospital in Jorvik was a mother with her newborn child. After many hours of labor the woman was relieved that it was over and she was able to hold the baby girl, beaming at the infant she had given birth to.

Unnoticed in the window as a large blue rodent, with a fluffy tail like that of a squirrel. It watched the mother, and then the father when he entered the room, seeing how happy they were as a newly formed family. But the child in their arms made Fripp’s stomach clench. So the Sun had been born, the cycle had begun again. 

Once upon a time Fripp was overjoyed when he saw his friends again, born into new bodies so they could one day help him defend against the enemy. But after so many cycles of watching them be born and die, after they had lost the ability to remember who he was and their past lives, the miracle of life was just a reminded of how fragile and short lived it was. They had given up immortality and wholeness with their souls for this weak and pitifully short existence. Perhaps they could no longer remember who they were because the memories of what they had given up was too terrible to bear, just as Starshine had killed himself so that he was no longer separated from Lisa.

He wished he could smile at the coming of the Sun, but she had lost her ability to remember her soul hundreds of years ago. It just wasn’t the same anymore, how could he be happy for her return when she had diminished so much? It would be like rejoicing for the sun after it had become a red dwarf, a burned out shadow of its former self. He sighed and turned away from the happy family, climbing down to the ground and heading back to the Stonering. It was once more time to prepare for the coming battle.


	44. Anonymous asked: Any possibility of writing about some backstory? Maybe the unfortunate dews?

“What is it, Lynna?” the warm voice of her husband brought her out of her thoughts. The old woman looked up at the equally old man, tears in her eyes as she sat against the stone fence.

“We lost another cow, Gyles. Why is this happening? They’re just getting sick, I don’t know what is wrong with them, the vet doesn’t know what wrong with them…” her husband sat down next to her, rubbing her shoulder and taking her hand.

“Perhaps, perhaps the vet in Silverglade, or we could try going to Jorvik City-” he tried to reassure his childhood love, but she shook her head.

“We’ve already lost so much money to trying to save the livestock and the crops… perhaps it is time for us to face the facts. We’ve been losing money for years, maybe it’s time to sell the farm…” her stubborn husband let out an angry snort at the idea, but he was also afraid. Word had spread of what was happening, the animals were dying, the crops were sick, even the water was wrong. At first the water had simply tasted funny, now it would come out black. Worst part was no one could figure out what it was that was making the animals sick. It had to be the water, but they couldn’t find the source.

“We can fix this,” Gyles assured his wife, trying to reassure himself. They had no choice, no one would buy the farm as it was now.


	45. stormiesquall asked: 31 for AnnexAlex for the ship thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m assuming you mean “31. - Do they finish each other’s sentences? Pick up any phrases or habits from each other? Know when the other is hiding something?” because if not oops!

Spending two years apart inevitably damaged a relationship. Not necessarily in a negative way, but there were little details that one person wouldn’t know about the other. Two years apart meant two years experiencing life with someone missing, and experiencing life without them. Alex could remember little details about Anne from high school that no longer applied to Anne: Anne’s neutral expression was no longer a subtle smile, pleased with life. Now her face didn’t show emotions as easily, her default expression was now more aggressive, her lips downturned. Alex wondered how long it would take for them to sync up, to return to the point where they could predict each other’s words and actions. 

At least they were starting off on a good foot, but spending several days and nights together helped them catch up on what they had missed. But Alex knew that there was still so much she didn’t know about understand about Anne, especially when it came to what had happened to Pandoria. She wasn’t sure if Anne’s reluctance to talk about it was because of trauma or because she honestly couldn’t remember important details, but Alex was hesitant to press the issue. Some things needed time to heal, poking out the wounds when they were still fresh would cause more harm than good. At least, Alex hoped she was correct in thinking that.


	46. stormiesquall asked: 48. Rampage

“How could she have escaped!?” Sabine jumped when Mr. Sands slammed his fist against a wall, although instead of fear on her face she was merely annoyed.

“You missed all the bodies left from her rampage?” was Sabine’s snarky come back, clearly not what Mr. Sands wanted to hear.

“She was in chains, in a locked cell, what of Justin? Did he help free her?” Mr. Sands demanded to know, Sabine sighing as Mr. Sands expected her to somehow answer his questions.

“How would I know? You got back before I did! And don’t go trying to blame her escape on me or the others, you’re the one who decided to have all three of us out on missions and bring her here in the first place!” Sabine cut him off before he could start accusing her of failing him. He snorted, rubbing his face in a rather human manner.

“In which case you need to go after her, recapture her or get rid of her it doesn’t matter anymore. We need to get her before she or Justin can tell the Druids anything compromising,” Mr. Sands ordered and Sabine rolled her eyes.

“No. Not without either Jessica or Katja, preferably both. Even if I went by myself by the time I hit the mainland she’d already be safe, and who knows if Justin is even alive at this point. You saw what she did to the men in her way, I wouldn’t be surprised if she destroyed Justin for what you had him do to her,” Sabine didn’t back down when Mr. Sands glared at her.

“Either way we are down a Dark Rider, and we need a replacement. Finding one will take time, and we need to buy ourselves that time. As soon as the other two get back you will all need to focus your efforts on delaying the Druids by any means necessary,” he ordered and she nodded once, not looking convinced.

“And where are we going to find another Dark Rider? Just go up to girls at stables and ask if they want to join us?”

“Scouting for potential candidates will be your secondary objective. Now go, find out what you can about how our little druid escaped, you won’t be sent out until Katja and Jessica have returned and have been debriefed,” Mr. Sands waved her off, dismissing her and insulting her by his disrespect.

“And what are you going to do?” she demanded to know, curious about how he would make himself of use.

“I believe it is time to arrange a distraction with the help of some business competitors,” he didn’t sound too happy about that prospect as he got out his phone.


	47. stormiesquall asked: 10. Bad hair day

“I can’t meet my parents like this!” Anne muttered as she fussed in a mirror, trying to fix her hair. Two years in Pandoria without any shampoo or brushes had taken its toll on her hair. 

“I’m sure your parents won’t care about your bad hair day when they see you for the first time in years,” Alex tried to reassure her, amused by Anne’s preening. 

“They won’t recognize me if I look terrible!”

“I think they’ll know it is you, even if you do have some split ends now,” Alex giggled at Anne’s shriek and hasty inspection of her hair.

“You’re right! Oh this is horrible I need to trim my hair! I need to go to a hair dresser and-”

“This isn’t about your hair, is it?” Alex cut off Anne’s fretting, Anne going pink at the implication and put down the hairbrush.

“Even with the druids there to explain everything, they’ll no doubt go into shock, and who knows what they’ll do! And even if they do accept what happened, what will they tell their friends and business associates? They can’t just take back all the legal action they’ve taken trying to find me and say it was a mistake. I’ll be putting them in such a terribly awkward position,” Anne voiced her fears, comforted by the feeling of Alex picking up the brush and using it on Anne’s hair.

“Better an awkward position then the grief and pain that comes with thinking you are dead but never knowing. At least when someone is dead there is a sort of closure, you grieve and move on. But with you, you were missing, they had no idea if you were alive or dead, and I know from experience that there is a special kind of agony found between hoping that you are alive and fearing you are dead with no way of knowing,” Alex tried to explain, happy when Anne smiled and nodded.

“You are right, of course. Some awkward public explaining is nothing compared to spending their lives teetering between fear and hope,” Anne agreed, feeling better and giggling when Alex kissed her hair.


	48. stormiesquall asked: 4. Magic bullet

“Elizabeth says you went through the mountain pass this morning, what were you doing there?” Justin brought Rebecca out of her thinking. She glanced up at him, not noticing him come up the path to the spiral road that led to the Secret Stonering. She thought it would be a safe place to work.

“I do have friends there, you know, I wanted to make sure they were getting along alright. I also wanted to find some kallstones for experiments,” she explained, nodding toward the bag of faintly glowing stones.

“Neat! What sort of experiments?” he sat next to her and took a handful of the stones to inspect.

“Things like ways to power them, drain and transfer their power, maybe figure out how to make new kallstones,” when she glanced at him he didn’t seem too impressed.

“So… why? Are they useful?” he asked as he started throwing them in the air and catching them again.

“Well they can explode. You should probably be careful and stop tossing them,” he hastily returned them to the bag with that new knowledge, looking at her with a new interest.

“Why are you experimenting with something so dangerous?” he looked warily at the glowing rock in her hand.

“I respect the Druids for valuing life and preferring nonlethal methods of fighting, but this is a war. They may not like it, but after talking with Alex about how I escaped I’ve been thinking more about it,” she explained as she inspected a single stone in her gloved hand.

“See, Alex is in the Lightning circle, her special power is the Soul Strike ability. I was under the impression that when I generated energy to melt my shackles and escape I was essentially using the same type of ability. Given the circumstances she couldn’t continue to withhold information about the Lightning circle and its magic. The long and short of her explanation was, I didn’t use the same magic as she does to use her Soul Strike ability. I used something else,” she continued when he did not immediately speak.

“I don’t understand, soul strike sounds pretty dangerous and lethal to me,” he shied away when she took off a glove so she could hold the stone in her bare hand, the blue light shining from the kallstone illuminating her scars.

“It can be, but not necessarily. When Alex uses soul strike she, as the name implies, strikes the soul of a person rather than the damaging the physical body. As I understand it, it stuns the soul, kind of disrupting its connection to the body. It doesn’t kill the person, it just knocks them out for a while,” the stone glowed brighter in her hand and he wondered if she was doing that on purpose.

“That’s not what you were doing at all… you were actually throwing lightning and electrocuting people!”

“Exactly. What I was doing was raw and uncontrolled except by all the pain and anger I was feeling. That makes me dangerous, but then again,” she looked at Justin with a smirk, “these are dangerous times.” On the one hand he was happy she was smiling and not shaking because of her exposed hands, but he was also not sure if it was a good thing that she seemed so eager about potential violence.

“So what are you going to do with the rocks? Throw them at Dark Core like little bombs?” he asked, in part to change the subject.

“That’s one idea, or finding a way to get them onto the drilling platform to bring it down. Or perhaps grenades, or magic bullets. Or even more benign things like draining the power from Dark Core ships, shutting them down for a while,” Justin could see the use in having those abilities, but it was starting to sink in that Rebecca was willing to kill. He had already known this of course, he had seen the devastation caused by her escape, but he had seen that as anger and self defense, she was just trying to escape. But as she said, this was war, and there were always casualties.


	49. stormiesquall asked: No regrets (writing prompt)

Katja wondered what it was like to live without regrets. Perhaps that was impossible for an immortal being such as herself, and yet she still found herself wondering what it was like. It must have been wonderful to not think back on things she could have done differently, should have done differently. 

It was a common theme of thought when she was in Pandoria, yet she was surprised and dismayed to find that she was thinking about regrets even more now that she was back with her comrades. Regret over what side of the war she was on, regret over actions she had taken either under orders or by her own volition, regret that she couldn’t stop the burning in her heart for the enemy.

She had once been able to get by with the knowledge that she had been born into this position, the side was chosen for her by her species. There was also a solace in following orders, it removed a sense of responsibility for her actions. 

But then there was the matter of Alex. That damn girl, it seemed every incarnation was more and more desirable to Katja, luring her in over the course of centuries. She knew it wasn’t intentional, Alex had no memories of her past lives, but it was still an infuriating trend. The attraction and feelings made Katja weak. Not because emotions were naturally weakening, but because it compromised her loyalties. Second guessing herself and her loyalty was not something she could afford, but she was doing it more and more, weakening her resolve and belief in her side. 

She just wished there was a way to leave her regrets behind.


	50. Anonymous asked: Something about Rebecca finding out/being told she's Aideen reincarnate and how she reacts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (following the Teaching minific I did with Rebecca and Elizabeth)

After her lesson with Elizabeth, Rebecca couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. The lesson hadn’t been about mediation or connecting the earth as she had been led to believe, but was actually an obedience test. Except that she had actually done it, she had felt the forest, and not in a way that Elizabeth meant or even believed was possible. 

She and Midnightwarrior made their way toward The Forgotten Fields, doing chores and helping people along the way. But after several hours Rebecca found herself and Midnightwarrior at The Sleeping Widow. She wasn’t sure what she expected to accomplish here, and Midnightwarrior was oddly antsy, his skin twitching constantly.

“Are you weirded out too?” she murmured to her horse after she dismounted, patting his shoulder. He snorted, shaking and throwing his head. The Jorvik Warmblood then shoved his head into her chest, trying to nuzzle and perhaps hide in her.

“Don’t wander too far, okay? I’m gonna try that weird meditation stuff again,” she told him, rubbing his forehead before she sat next to The Sleeping Widow. 

With a deep breath and eyes closed she tried to focus. She didn’t really understand what she had done last time in order to do whatever it was she did, she just remembered listening and focusing to everything at once. And then for a reason she didn’t understand she sudden was everything at once. Midnightwarrior paced, snorting and jingling his tack as he tried to work out his nervous energy. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, trying to not get distracted and failing miserably. 

With a groan she rubbed her face, trying to manage to block everything out as well as somehow expand her mind and be open to everything. Midnightwarrior continued to pace, his hoofbeats becoming a steady and repeating rhythm. The distraction was now helping her focus, and she found herself humming, leaning against The Sleeping Widow, feeling the magic around her. The earth shook with each step Midnightwarrior took, the water slipped up and down the sand on the beach, the leaves rustled in the salty breeze, the sun shone down on her between the shadows cast by The Sleeping Widow, insects flew between the flowers they kissed for nourishment. In the distance livestock roamed, spiders skittered over cobwebs, stalls were swept, horses were trained, life went on with a pulsing hum. And very far and away was a beating from her own heart.

“Aideen, you have returned,” the creak of The Sleeping Widow was familiar, and Rebecca felt her mouth open to speak.

“No, Sleeping Widow, it’s Rebecca. I helped you, growing your roots through the water with Lisa’s help,” she heard herself speak.

“Flesh and names do not disguise the soul I know. I am a soul contained in wood and root, but such mortal forms do not contain you,” the trunk against Rebecca’s back shifted in the wind.

“That’s not possible, I can’t be Aideen,” Rebecca said again.

“If you were not Aideen, you would not be able to hear the heart or sing the song lost to time,” the slow hum of the widow’s words pulsed through her body.

“Is that what I am feeling right now? Is that what I was humming?”

“Yes, you are waking up,” Rebecca wasn’t sure what The Sleeping Widow meant by that but her attention turned to Midnightwarrior nuzzling her cheek.

“Rebecca?” her eyes flew open and she looked at Midnightwarrior, knowing that somehow, it had been him that she had heard. He whickered and nudged her again, no longer twitching and anxious. She glanced around warily, everything was back to normal, she didn’t feel everything anymore, and The Sleeping Widow had gone silent. 

“That was weird,” she mumbled, standing and mounting Midnightwarrior, wondering if she had imagined hearing her name or not. She thought it was best to not tell the others about this just yet, she wanted to think about it and process it herself.


	51. stormiesquall asked: For a writing prompt, maybe how the other Soulriders found out about Anne and Alex getting together?

“Hey, guys, there’s something I-”  
“We uh, have something-”  
“-to tell you guys, it’s…”  
“You can’t tell anyone! It’s very personal and-”  
“I, I mean we, I mean-”  
“Please don’t freak out!”

Linda and Lisa glanced at each other, wondering when Alex and Anne would stop speaking over each other, bright red and rambling and not getting to a point anytime soon.

“Are you two going to finish soon?” Lisa asked, Linda nudging her ribcage with a grin.

“I think it’s adorable,” Linda defended the pair.

“Wait, you guys….? Do you guys know?” Anne stammered in a most unprincess like fashion.

“Depends on what you are going to tell us,” Lisa said with a smirk until Alex couldn’t take it anymore.

“WE’RE DATING!”

“YES!” Linda screamed much louder than Anne or Alex expected, shocked that Linda jumped up and fist pumped while Lisa groaned and face palmed.

“Wait… did you two place bets on us?” Anne demanded in indignation when Lisa fished out her wallet and handed Linda some money.

“I bet that Anne would be the one to finally say it, but I thought you guys would take another week at least,” Lisa explained, Linda beaming at the money she had just earned.

“You guys knew?” Alex asked, wondering how they could have found out.

“I see everything, remember?” Linda laughed, counting the money before putting it in her pocket. 

“Never make bets with someone who can see the future,” Lisa muttered, “unless you’re splitting the lottery money with her,” she added with a smirk, getting another nudge in the ribs.


	52. stormiesquall asked: Another story prompt: one of those secret rendezvous you mentioned Katja and Alex having

She had told her mom that she had left some important notes at school that she needed for her homework. In reality she could have used any excuse, or no excuse at all, to leave home in the evening for several hours. But at least if she was caught she’d be able to stick with her alibi, after all she was headed to school. Just not for notes for her homework.

The guard was easy enough to sneak past, poor man worked too many jobs at the school and was basically a zombie by the time he got around to guarding the school at night. A very irritable zombie, unless it was Linda. Alex had yet to find our how Linda managed to either get around the guard or have permission to come and go to the library at all hours of the night. But the library was Linda’s domain, and Linda didn’t even know Alex snuck into the school as often as she did. 

There was a classroom on the second floor with a door that didn’t properly lock. When turning a key in the keyhole you could hear the lock click, but if one turned the handle or gave the door a nudge it would open easily. This was the classroom that had become a meeting spot for Katja and Alex, originally they called it tutoring, but it was a rare occasion when they actually managed to get work done.

“Hello?” Alex whispered in the dark room, closing the door behind her as quietly as possible before she crept through the desks, wondering if she had beaten Katja here.

“Boo!” Katja popped up from behind the teacher’s desk, a mask over her face and laughing when Alex jumped back with her hands over her mouth to keep from making noise.

“Got you!” Katja teased, pulling the ski mask off and fixing her hair. Alex pouted before she grabbed Katja while she was distracted with her hair.

“I think I got you…” Alex murmured, pleased by the blush on Katja’s face.


	53. mad-li asked: harsh whisper, please MAKE IT A TEEN ANGST FEST

When Loretta left Moorland stables for a ride to clear her head she didn’t think she’d see the man of her dreams on the beach. Her horse snorted when she jerked him into a halt, staring at Justin as he got off a barge with a group of girls. She didn’t recognize the girls and they were giving off a weird vibe but she was too focused on Justin. He was back! Should she go up to him and talk to him? Should she wait until he got to Moorland stables and play it cool? She could play it cool if she just happened to run into him out on the beach, she had been riding to get away from everyone, it wasn’t like she was checking the beach for him. She gnawed at her lip, trying to decide how to act, excited? If she was excited that could easily be so not cool! But she missed him and he had been gone for ages, so playing it cool and nonchalant may just make her look like she didn’t care. 

After several minutes she realized she had just been sitting there and not paying attention to where the group was going. She hastily spurred her horse after them, wondering where they were going. They were sneaking past Moorland, but if Justin wasn’t returning to Moorland where was he going?

“Justin!” her face went red when she heard how excited and desperate and high pitched she sounded. So embarrassing. But it caught his attention, making him and the girls spin around hastily. Why did they all look so angry?

“What?” he asked her as she stopped her horse next to them, and her horse shifted and snorted, feeling her nerves.

“I… hi! It’s been a while… where have you been?” she didn’t like how he was looking at her, like he didn’t even recognize her.

“None of your concern,” he replied curtly, one of the girls whispering something in his ear.

“But… oh come on, stop being weird! This is me you’re talking to, you tell me everything!” she laughed nervously, and was relieved when he smiled and took a step toward her, nodding for her to come closer. She dismounted, trying to conceal her smile. Was he finally going to tell her his feelings for her?

“I haven’t told you everything,” he confessed. He was going to say it! She could feel it! He leaned in to her ear, his hot breath stirring her hair slightly. Her stomach clenched in happy butterflies.

“You’re a stupid bitch,” was his harsh whisper that killed her fluttering heart.

“What?” was the only thing she could choke out, fighting back tears as he started laughing at her.

“You think you’re so cool, gossiping and bullying all the girls around Moorland into submission but let’s be honest here, you’re just a terrified child! How insecure can a person get, because you certainly take the cake!” now the girls behind Justin were laughing hysterically, snorting cackles that reminded Loretta of crows. Those girls, it was all their fault! It had to be!

“Justin-! Come back with me, those girls did something to you!” he couldn’t mean those things, he couldn’t be laughing and mocking her tears, he couldn’t be! It had to be their fault, her Justin would never act like this! He would never be cruel to her!

“What, to Moorland? Why, so I can watch you preen yourself and make everyone else clean up your messes? Or so I can be around all the two faced liars? I’ll pass, I’ve got better things to do! Now go back to Moorland, I’m sure you can force someone to wipe up your snot, wouldn’t want to get your designer gloves dirty!” he gave her a mocking farewell, leaving her standing there sobbing. The girls he was with watched her for a moment more, commenting to themselves how stupid and ugly she looked before they left with Justin up the steep path to Nilmer’s Highland with backpacks. What happened to him? How could he be so mean?


	54. Anonymous asked: Monarchy with Mrs. Drake?

To say that Ms. Drake had ambition would have been an understatement. Had magic and Hogwarts been real the Sorting Hat would have placed her in Slytherin the moment she stepped through the doors. But such things as having magic to force others to do her bidding were just a fantasy that she mulled over in her free time, in reality she was preoccupied with her job. 

Her job at GED was demanding, not because of the actual work but because of the extra work she put into it. She was not going to advance by slacking off like her underlings, and she had ambitions. A low level management position was merely a stepping stone to something greater. She knew it would take time and effort, and she wasn’t afraid of the work or impatient enough to make a foolish risk to save time. The Harvest Counties were not enough for her, a small backwater part of a useless island that had strange minerals. She knew they were there, she just had to find them, and when she did she would bleed the island dry of everything worth  profit. She wasn’t interested in a promotion off of this God forsaken island, oh no, that was not enough. If the minerals found in their tests were as powerful and useful as her preliminary tests indicated, she would be launched into a position of great power and influence with GED. She’d skip mid level altogether and get right into top level administration. 

One would think that ending up as President of GED or a member of the board of CEOs would be enough, but she knew the power this company could hold if she was in control and played her hand right. Whatever was on this pathetic island could very well change the world, and she would be sure to shape the world after her interests. A promotion? Oh no, why settle for something so small when she could begin an energy monarchy, effective queen of the world. 

“Your Majesty” had a nice ring to it.


	55. stormiesquall asked: Dancing and AnnexAlex for a writing prompt?

“This is stupid,” Alex mumbled, her arms crossed as she glared at the floor.

“Actually this is a waltz,” Anne said smartly, her hands on Alex waiting for her to return the gesture.

“Why do I need to learn to dance again?” Alex was not happy with this weird insistence on Anne’s part.

“Because my family will require me to go to formal events where dancing may be expected, and I’d much rather you be my plus one,” Anne explained patiently, knowing the pomp and circumstance of upper class Jorvikians was not something Alex wanted to be around. But Alex sighed, looking up at Anne before she took Anne’s hand and placed her hand on Anne’s upper arm.

“Good, now then, first step back with your right,” Anne instructed, slowly guiding Alex through the steps of the basic dances that Anne expected they would have to dance at some point.

“Wait, am I the girl?” Alex asked after several minutes of focus when she realized she was the one moving backwards the entire time and had her hand on Anne’s upper arm. 

“I believe we are both girls, but yes, you are in the lady’s dance role,” Anne smiled, amused by Alex’s expectation of being the dominant one in this situation. Alex blushed at that, stumbling, unsure how she felt about this. It was weird being in the traditionally female role when she considered herself a tomboy, but she was more comfortable with Anne taking the lead with dancing. Anne did know what she was doing after all, and it felt nice having Anne’s hand supporting and guiding her.


	56. theseadontbotherme asked: 12. Music (sorry if I repeat myself, I forget what you wrote last time, but if I recall I don't think you'll mind. But still)

The Baroness adjusted her dress, her mind mulling over what was coming. Jasper Holbrook had requested an evening of dinner with her, and she dreaded what the topic of conversation would be. He had always been a difficult man, even more so after his daughter Catherine died in childbirth to Justin. Jasper had turned into a grumpy recluse, blaming her son and grandson, and by extension her, for what had happened. It was like that man was blind to the pain he was adding to an already horrible situation, he was so angry he didn’t consider reason or others. 

So, naturally, the polite letter asking for dinner had come as a shock to her, but being the proper woman she was she had politely agreed, hoping this would help ease tensions between her family and him. And with Justin missing she was desperate for some good news.

Godfrey announced Jasper Holbrook’s arrival, calling her attention away from her thoughts and gaze at the fireplace. 

“Mr. Holbrook, I trust you are doing well. How goes the pumpkins?” she recalled reports that he had returned to his pumpkin farm in Golden Hills and tried to make polite conversation. She was surprised when he smiled at her, a genuine smile, and took her hand and gave it a kiss.

“As large and orange as ever! But, my dear Baroness, shall we skip the formalities and perhaps have some music?” he asked her with a grin, clearly amused by her startled expression. Godfrey, standing as a proper butler to the side, looked equally shocked and watched The Baroness for instruction.

“Music?” The Baroness managed, giving her butler a glance but no indication of an order.

“Why of course! Too much time has passed since I last danced, and I have a feeling that same is true for you. The youngin’s get up to their crazy gesturing that they call dancing, the two of us should show them how to properly move!” before any music was even playing Jasper had taken The Baroness’ hand, twirling her about the floor. And the strangest thing was The Baroness found herself laughing and smiling. 


	57. stormiesquall asked: 25. Self-loathing

Alex found herself in the corner of her room surrounded by self-loathing. She knew it didn’t make sense, she did what she had needed to do. She was a warrior, the Champion of the Soul Riders. Weakness was not something that was a part of her, she was the embodiment of strength and power.

And yet a single white scarf had managed to break her down to sobbing in her room. 

She had done what she had needed to do. This was a war, and she had been the enemy. The enemy had to be stopped, had to be defeated. She had threatened her family and friends, Alex had to stop her, and Alex had done just that. But Alex couldn’t stop the tears as she wondered if everything had been a lie between them and hated herself for feeling regret over this. She shouldn’t regret banishing her enemy to Pandoria.

That liar deserved the banishment, and it had eliminated a threat. It was more merciful than being killed, and Alex knew she had the power to do that. Fripp had warned her how dangerous her power was, she had been kind by sparing the enemy for banishment instead. 

At least that’s what she told herself, trying to forget the feeling of being in Pandoria to break her seal. She had had Tin-Can with her so she wasn’t alone, but even with her steed Alex could feel the hell that was soaked into the fabric of that dimension. And she had sent Katja there. She had damned Katja to Hell, thinking it would be merciful. Now she realized just how wrong she had been.

She clutched at the white scarf, stained with tears, regretting what she had done.


	58. theseadontbotherme asked: 7. Untied

A dapple grey horse stood in the middle of a swamp by a strange smelling cauldron and a witch, rather confused about what was happening. He wondered where his owner, Justin, was and why he was here with this odd woman. She had fed him strange things and poured potions and chanted over him, making the horse feel strange and ill. And then a girl on a horse had come, been turned into a frog, and then returned again. The strange thing was the witch had been given an apple that smelled delicious, and after eating the apple had lost her air of foulness. 

But after the familiar horse and girl left the witch had dumped the latest cauldron batch into the swamp below, cleaning it out and starting a new brew that smelled much sweeter than the other potions she had concocted. The itching under his skin faded with each new potion he was given, and he wondered what was going on. Why had this witch taken him and changed him only to change him back? Where was Justin?

The horse’s thoughts remained unanswered even as the witch took him out of the swamp and untied him. She spoke kind words to him, encouraging him to return home, before she gave him a pat and left him there. He snorted and watched the witch return to her swamp, as confused as ever. But there was another matter to deal with: freedom. In the distance he heard wolves, and did not want to stay where he might be attacked for long, but where was he to go? He didn’t know where he was or where his owner was, but he knew Justin was in danger. 

It felt good to stretch out his legs in an easy canter as he followed the road, hoping to find a trace of his human or the human’s father. Perhaps Thomas Moorland could return him to Justin.


	59. theseadontbotherme asked: 30. Silence

There was something very special about living in a swamp. It was exceptionally dark for one, as though there was a permanent purple fog over the swamp, which given how much magic saturated this place was actually true. The darkness not only absorbed most light but also most sound, muffling everything by the thickness of the air. 

The resident witch enjoyed the silence, it felt like she was in her own little world when she was in her swamp. It was safe, it was home, and it was hers. Sure there were distant memories of a husband and responsibilities once upon a time but they were all but forgotten in the stillness of the swamp and enchantment. The work she was doing was far too important to dally in memories and past lives. Witches had a very different view on time as mortality had loosened its grip on her, weakened by magic and power. While she could die it took a great deal to kill a witch and there were no more witch hunters on Jorvik. There hadn’t been for centuries now, that art was lost, and thus corrupted witches had nothing to fear but the single tree that still bore golden apples. 

Of course golden apples wouldn’t kill a witch either, their properties were focused on healing and was essentially a physical container for creation and light magic. Pi knew to be wary of them and any who would offer her one, and one day the day came when a girl on a horse seemed interested in doing just that. 

The foolish horse and rider had come for Justin’s horse and though she bore no apple Pi knew who she was. Pi was young, very young by witch standards, by all rights she was still measurable in human years. But all witches knew magic when they saw it, and the witches of Jorvik could recognize a magic soul anywhere, no matter how they might be concealed. And this soul was certainly concealed in an inexperienced body, but Pi knew immediately who she was dealing with. Witches always recognized the Goddess of Creation, and in Pi’s twisted heart she felt fear for the first time in decades, for Aideen always broke the silence with her song.


	60. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: Just slaughter Rebecca's feelings No. 2

Rebecca stood in the center of the Secret Stone Ring, feeling uneasy as a few of the druids stood looking at her. She wasn’t told why she was summoned, and she didn’t understand why the Soul Riders weren’t present. In fact most of those normally in attendance were not there, it seemed only the highest in the order were present. The way they were looking at her left a bad taste in her mouth.

“So, uh, what’s going on?” she asked when no one said anything.

“We’re still waiting for someone to arrive,” Fripp didn’t answer her question at all. She rocked back and forth on her feet, having left Midnightwarrior back in Valedale. For some reason they had told her to, perhaps they were getting tired of mucking off the stone after all the riders brought their horses to the meetings. After several minutes of awkward silence only interrupted by Rebecca trying to hum to stay calm there was a flash as the final member of the group.

“Hi everyone!” Justin greeted everyone, happy as always now that he and Rebecca were on much better terms. He looked better too, the dark magic that had such a hold on him was finally gone from his appearance, he looked healthy rather than a pale and thin corpse. She gave him a wave and a half smile, noticing he looked confused after he glanced around. Apparently he didn’t know why he had been summoned either.

“Now that we are all in attendance there is an urgent matter to discuss,” Fripp’s opening statement made her wonder why the others weren’t present if it was such an important thing.

“Justin,” Avalon began, catching Justin’s attention, “Could you please tell the Keepers what you told Elizabeth Sunbeam about Rebecca’s, ahem, research?” 

Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked at Justin, who suddenly looked very embarrassed. He stammered for a moment, a nervous hand going through his hair as he looked away.

“Uhh well, I’m sure it sounds pretty bad but it really isn’t what you think-” Justin managed to get out. He froze when Elizabeth touched his shoulder to try to encourage him.

“It’s alright, I can tell them if you do not wish to,” Elizabeth comforted him, or tried to. He merely gulped and looked at Rebecca guiltily.

“What did you tell Elizabeth? What research?” Rebecca didn’t understand what they were referring to. 

“Your kallstone research. Justin came to me because he was concerned about you, about some things you had said and what you were doing. Druids,” Elizabeth looked away from Rebecca and to the others in attendance, “Justin informed me that Rebecca has begun looking into violent ways of ending this conflict. He witnessed her researching the use of kallstones for their explosive properties for potential use as makeshift bombs or grenades.  Combined with her method of escape from the Dark Core platform as well as her own admission to Justin that she does not value life as we druids do, I am very concerned for her,” Elizabeth explained as eloquently as any lawyer, leaving Rebecca slack jawed and staring. The druids glanced at each other and murmured.

“What?! Conflict? You’re calling a war from the beginning of time a ‘conflict’? And I was defending myself, not to mention I’d been tortured and starved for over a week of course I was going to use any means necessary to escape!” Rebecca tried not to shout but heard her voice grow louder.

“You may present your defense in due time, now Justin, can you confirm what Elizabeth said?” Fripp reprimanded Rebecca before addressing Justin. 

“Defense? What is this, a trial?” Rebecca demanded.

“Be silent or you will be made silent,” Avalon scolded, drawing her glare.

“Justin?” Fripp prompted again. Rebecca’s glare turned to Justin, softening as he swallowed and looked around like a trapped animal. He didn’t like this anymore than she did. 

“She can’t hurt you,” Elizabeth murmured to him.

“I would never hurt him!” Rebecca protested, startled by the glares of the Druids.

“You beamed him in the head with a stick!” Elizabeth shot back angrily. Meanwhile, Justin looked even more guilty.

“That- well yes. But that was to prove a point!” Rebecca tried to explain but knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“A point that would have been made just as well with words and without the violence!” Rebecca winced at Elizabeth’s retort, knowing it was true. 

“Now Justin, please confirm for the others what I told them,” Elizabeth returned her attention to Justin.

“Well see, that wasn’t really what I meant, I mean she wouldn’t-” Justin tried to explain himself before he was cut off by Fripp.

“Yes or no,” Justin glanced at the squirrel, not liking that he was being forced to answer without any explanation. But he felt worse when he looked at Rebecca, caught between anger and hurt. She crossed her arms and looked away.

“Do what you have to,” she muttered, glaring at the stone beneath her feet.

“…Yes,” Justin mumbled, prompting more glances and murmurs around him.

“Rebecca, you must understand, you’re actions are a grave concern to us. We want to make sure you are well, and that you-” Elizabeth tried to soothe Rebecca’s hurt but the words made Rebecca look up at her in disbelief.

“You think they did something to me when I was a prisoner, don’t you? You don’t trust me anymore,” Rebecca figured out what the real issue was, why they were looking at her as though she were a threat.

“You’re wrong! I value life, all life, but I understand this is a war and there are sacrifices that must be made. People die in war, that’s just how it is!” Rebecca continued when they did not immediately answer.

“We protect life, and we do it without violence! We will not resort to the methods of the enemy,” Avalon hissed, but the irony brought a harsh laugh to Rebecca’s lips.

“Says the one who used mind control on Dark Core employees to get what he wanted! How is your method of striping away someone’s free will better than what they did to Justin? How is your method more righteous?” at the mention of mind control Justin glanced at Avalon, horrified, but Rebecca continued, “and this isn’t some civil rights movement where peaceful protest will gain you favor! Yes, I killed people when I escaped from Dark Core, and I’m going to have to live with that, but don’t you dare blame me for not being trained! That’s on your hands, had I known defensive or offensive magic I would have been able to stun them and escape-”

“Your brutality is not our responsibility!”

“And you can’t take any credit for my escape either! Where was my rescue? Was I just left to rot and either die or be controlled? You didn’t have the resources to mount a rescue and I knew that, so I got myself out and managed to bring Justin back!”

“And ever since you have returned you have been violent and seeking out ways to destroy our enemy, you’ve turned to a quick and easy answer!”

“And in trying to save every life you would save Coventry and lose the war! If you want me to use non lethal ways then you need to start teaching me-”

“If you wanted to use non lethal methods you would be researching those instead-”

“Enough!” Fripp silenced Rebecca and Avalon’s heated argument, making all eyes turn to the squirrel. 

“Rebecca, you are a valuable asset to us Keepers, but your thoughts on life and how to conduct this war do not align with our beliefs. This disagreement in a fundamental belief of the Druids appeared after your imprisonment on the Dark Core platform. We must err on the side of caution,” Fripp explained, unfazed by Rebecca’s scowl.

“So what, I’m out?” she demanded, her anger curdling into fear.

“We no longer believe we can trust you, since you are so fond of the idea of sacrifice surely you understand our reasoning. You are too valuable to lose and your skills will be necessary, but for the safety of all you will have to be… restricted in your access to us and our knowledge. We shall contact you if we need you or if we believe it is wise to train you further,” Fripp concluded, leaving Rebecca silent.

“I understand,” her quiet words brought a sigh of relief to all those present until they froze at her laughter, “You have your uses for me, after all I’m expendable, I’m not one of your Soul Riders, I’m not necessary for the ceremony. So I can go do all the dangerous stuff, risk my life and get my hands dirty, all for you because you druids only want dirt on your hands from playing with flowers. Can’t stand the thought of getting any blood on your preciously clean hands, but since I’m not a druid I can get dirty, I can be covered in filth and blood to win your war for you all while you remain the pinnacle of light and life and purity,” she sneered at them, laughing at them as she felt her heart shatter.

“Here, take some gloves, wouldn’t want to get your hands dirty,” she pulled off her gloves and threw them at the assembled druids, waving her scarred hands at them in a mocking farewell as she left them through the portal.


	61. Anonymous asked: Midnightwarrior happens to notice a certain horse calling his name...

Midnightwarrior’s rider was busy helping the magician once more, doing strange tasks for the questionable human that required her to be off him for a time. He was able to watch and follow her so he was not worried, and while the man with the five leaf clover was peculiar he certainly didn’t strike Midnightwarrior as evil. And so he waited for his rider to be finished by watching her as he nibbled at the grass around the circus tent.

“Hey!” a whinny caught his attention and he looked at Ydris’ cages, wondering when a horse had gotten into one. Midnightwarrior lifted his head and whickered back, curious by the strange flapping sound the horse was making as if it had feathers.

“You can see me!” the grey horse asked, obviously surprised that he had attracted someone’s attention. Midnightwarrior snorted, swallowed the grass in his mouth, and inspected the fine featured stallion.

“Can others not see you?” Midnightwarrior asked, confused when the other horse grumbled, hanging his head.

“Unfortunately not, except for the magician and Jester, but your rider has them distracted,” the horse gave a glance to Rebecca and Ydris before straightening up, “But where are my manners! Do forgive my rudeness, it has been so long since I have engaged in proper conversation! I am Concorde.”

“I’m Midnightwarrior. How did you get in there?” Midnightwarrior indulged in the pleasantries, amused by how formal this horse was. Reminded him of Starshine in a way.

“I certainly didn’t walk in willingly! I’m not sure how I came to be in this particular prison, but I do believe that you and your soul rider are exactly who I need! Please, I beg you to help me, or if you can not help me then find my rider, Anne. Once she is back she will stop at nothing to free me!” Concorde implored, Midnightwarrior recognizing the name.

“I want to help but I don’t know how, I wouldn’t be any better at breaking the bars than you,” Midnightwarrior studied the wagon cage, not seeing an easy way for a horse to break in or out.

“Your human, speak to her, perhaps she can convince the magician to let me go, or find a way to pick or break the lock,” Concorde suggested with a glance at Rebecca.

“Speak to her? I can’t, not like you and I can speak with each other,” at that Concorde looked at Midnightwarrior in confusion.

“You can’t? But you two are soul bound, I can see the magic around both of you, you should be able to speak with her,” Concorde tried to reason, horrified when Midnightwarrior shook his head.

“Rebecca does have magic, but she is not a soul rider,” Midnightwarrior tried to explain but Concorde remained bewildered.

“If you can see me then you too have magic, I can see your soul power. Perhaps your bond with your rider has not yet woken? This is the first time you have responded to me, so it would seem that you two are both slowly waking up,” Concorde seemed to be thinking out loud to himself as much as he was musing to Midnightwarrior, idly pawing the ground in thought.

“Rebecca has been training with the druids, perhaps that is why she and I are becoming more attuned to magic?” Midnightwarrior suggested, not sure how magic worked at all.

“That is possible. Well, it seems I shall have to wait for a while longer, but at least now I know you and your rider will soon be able to help me. Please, when you are able to speak to her properly, tell her that I need help, and that I can help you find Anne,” Midnightwarrior agreed with a nod to Concorde’s request. Then he heard Rebecca call for him and he turned away from Concorde toward his human. He hoped the day would soon come when he would be able to speak to her.


	62. Anonymous asked: Soon as possible, I need a crack ship of Rebecca and Sunshine Joytree !

Rebecca chewed on her lip as she looked at the air headed girl sitting among the flowers. In Rebecca’s hands was a cooler packed with ice to keep the contents frozen on its trip from Dino Valley. 

“Hey, Sunshine!” Rebecca called to get her attention as well as announce her presence. Sunshine looked up at her with a dreamy smile, her fingers still tangled in stems and petals.

“Why hello, Rebecca, did you bring a picnic? Perhaps some ice cream in that cooler?” she asked with her eyes on the cooler, curious.

“No, actually I went to Dino Valley and brought some things. I trade with the Kallters there, I take items from the rest of Jorvik and give it to them in exchange for other things,” Rebecca explained in a ramble, not sure how to properly explain why she had a cooler.

“I know how trade works. Such a cold place I’m told, there must not be many flowers there,” Sunshine wondered mostly to herself, not noticing Rebecca’s growing grin at her words.

“Not nearly as many flowers as here, they would love some samples from the gardens here. But still, I thought you might like seeing some of the plants from there,” Rebecca placed the cooler on the ground and opened it, luring Sunshine closer.

“Thistles,” Sunshine purred, picking up an icenthistle and inspecting it. “It’s so very cold…”

“Well it is called an icenthistle, everything from the Valley remains cold for a long time. You can practically use the ice berries as ice cubes, plus they are remarkably sweet. I still pack it all in ice just to be sure though, wouldn’t want it getting too damaged,” she watched Sunshine gently run her fingers over the hardy flower. She then carefully placed the icenthistle back in the cooler and looked at a sprig of berries.

“I was thinking, since you are so fond of flowers, you might be interested in exchanging wildlife with the Kallters? They’d love to see what you can grow here in the sun, if you want to trade with them,” Rebecca continued, not quite sure Sunshine was even hearing what she was saying.

“I shall need snow boots,” Sunshine mused with a smile, and Rebecca grinned at her.


	63. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: Elizabeth and Mario

Every Christmas he would receive candy from E, it was one of the few regular things about them. Once in a while E would find the time to send a message up to Mario in his observatory, and on occasion he would be able to send her a reply. And rarely, very rarely, E would arrive with the sun in the morning and be with him until he went to sleep.

“You’re quieter than normal,” Mario commented sleepily. His job was to watch the stars after all, dawn was the time he normally headed to bed. She looked up from the tea she had made for the two of them.

“What do you see? Has the sky changed?” it was a common question she asked him, but he never understood why.

“No more than it normally does as the earth moves and the seasons change,” she nodded at his reply with a small smile.

“That is good,” she said as she always did when he answered her question. 

“Are you concerned that the stars will disappear?” he teased, as he normally did. But something new happened: her smile faded. 

“The stars are all where they should be, just as bright and shining as ever,” he told her, causing her to nod and take a sip of her tea.

“At least the heavens are still full of light,” she murmured to herself.

“Has the earth changed? What do you and the druids see?” he asked, curious and worried that she was not her normal chipper self.

“Jorvik is growing darker,” he did not expect her to answer, normally she was coy when he asked her questions about the druids and their secrets. 

“Well, at least there is still one Sunbeam to brighten Jorvik,” he tried to reassure her and she looked at him in stunned silence.

“That was a terrible joke,” she burst out with a laugh, unable to contain her amusement at his bad pun and his cheesy expression that accompanied it. He chuckled at himself and nodded, taking a sip of tea. There, now things were back to normal.


	64. Anonymous asked: just give me hardcore fluffiness connie+rebecca

Connie had never heard Rebecca scream before, she hardly had to raise her voice to call for her horse. But what he was hearing in the other room of the cellar was pure, honest to God, she-might-be-getting-murdered, shrieking. He wasn’t aware that he had grabbed a crowbar he had been using to dismantle some broken boxes, but regardless he sprinted to the room she was in down the hall from his. 

“What is it?” he demanded as he got through the open door frame, crowbar ready. Rebecca was standing in a corner on her tiptoes, pressed against the wall trying to make herself as flat as possible as she stared at the ground.

“THAT!” she screeched, pointing to a centipede on the ground. Connie blinked, the raised crowbar falling as he relaxed.

“It’s just a little bug,” he informed her, not sure why she was so scared. He had seen her deal with mice and spiders before, this didn’t make any sense.

“It’s a house centipede and it FELL on me!” she declared, shuddering as she thought of it. Connie coughed to conceal a laugh but stepped forward.

“Alright, I’ll kill it don’t wor-”

“No don’t kill it! House centipedes are good bugs! They eat the ones that are actually harmful like cockroaches!” she interjected, her hand shooting out to stop him but still managing to keep her body pressed against the wall. The house centipede, meanwhile, was wiggling its antennae, unaware that it had just been spared death under a boot.

“So what do you want me to do?” Connie put his foot down.

“I don’t know! Get it outside or something just away from me!” she demanded. Connie’s laugh was not successfully covered a cough this time around but she was too distracted to make any comments, watching him as he knelt down to pick up the bug. Sensing something much larger looming over it, the house centipede darted away and right toward Rebecca. She did not take kindly to this development and made sure everyone within hearing distance knew her displeasure as she screamed and darted for the door.

By now Connie was hysterical in his laughs, he knew he shouldn’t be so amused by Rebecca’s fear but considering he knew she had calmly stood up to someone as scary as Mr. Kembell it was a strange contrast. 

“Well, it’s gone now, I can’t see it anymore,” he managed to say as he looked at her hiding behind the doorframe. She nodded and took a deep breath to calm down.

“So, don’t like all the legs?” he teased as he walked over to her, snickering as she pouted. 

“It fell on me! I’d like to see you not freak out if a large insect landed on your arm!” she protested, trying to defend herself and embarrassed that she was now very red in the face.

“I suppose, but you deal with more dangerous things on a daily basis, I’m just surprised you’re scared of bugs,” he explained as his laughter faded into an amused grin.

“I’m not scared of bugs, I just don’t like centipedes. Their legs are weird and they look like they’re little feathers when they move and they get so big and there are some terrifying videos on Jortube and-stop laughing!” she crossed her arms, sulking as he found himself laughing at how worked up she was getting over an insect.

“I’m sorry- I’m sorry,” he managed between laughs, “you are just very cute,” he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead after informing her of her cute status. She froze for a moment, the redness in her face turning into a bright blush.

“It is gone, right?” she mumbled, letting him look into the room for her and nod.

“Yup, back to whatever little corner it lives in,” he confirmed.

“Ok, I guess I should get back to work,” she glanced up at him for a moment and away again, “thanks for helping me out.”

“Any time you ne-” he was cut off by a short kiss, his words ending abruptly on her lips. He blinked, stunned for a moment as she returned to work as though nothing had happened.


	65. My darling is sad so here is some smooshy RebeccaxConnie fluff

Rebecca didn’t know how Derek knew where to deliver the mail so she would always be able to find hers, but she was pleased that the postal service on Jorvik was somehow magical enough to manage it. The notifications she got was also nice, and she didn’t waste time on the tasks she was assigned at the Silverglade Winery.

“Well then, seems the secret admirer decided to get in touch with me again,” she informed Midnightwarrior as she read the short note. Her presence was requested later that evening in the satin dress that her admirer had given to her on Valentines.

“Think I should go?” she nudged her steed, receiving a snort in response.

“That’s what I was thinking!” she agreed, mounting her horse and heading to her home stables to get the dress. 

A shower, change of clothes, several hours, and one gondola later and Rebecca was at the observatory sitting at the cafe. She knew she was early, but she was antsy and eager to find out who her secret admirer was. Luckily it was empty, so she wouldn’t have to guess who was coming to join her for dinner. At least she had the view to look at as she waited. When she grew impatient she stood and walked over to the railing, looking out over Silverglade. She wondered who she would need to talk to in order to get a hot air balloon ride, she saw them floating over the Everwind Fields on a daily basis practically.

“Ahem,” a polite cough caught her attention and she turned to look at who had asked her to dinner. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Connie, he looked very different in a proper tuxedo. Based on his expression he was just as stunned by her appearance, he had never seen her in anything but clothes she could work and get dirty in and yet here she was: clean and made up complete with a dress and her hair pulled up and back. 

“Hello,” she managed, more shyly than she expected. It was strange, normally she was the one cracking jokes and putting him off guard, but now he was the one smiling confidently, taking everything in stride. Literally in stride as he was walking toward her as she mumbled. 

“You look beautiful,” his voice was smooth, no hint of nerves in his tone.

“You look… great! I mean a tux and everything! I mean I guess you’re from a family of wine connoisseurs so you probably have a lot of tuxes and suits and other fancy things and I’m rambling, am I rambling? I’m rambling,” she fumbled over her words, blushing and looking away, wondering why he was chuckling softly.

“It’s fine, and I probably do have enough tuxedo pieces to match just about any color scheme my parents need me to wear for parties,” he joked and she realized he was matching her, in a black and red scheme just like the dress he had bought her. 

“You shouldn’t be this confident,” Rebecca pointed out, making him raise an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“Because you had no idea if I was going to accept your anonymous request to a date!” he chuckled at that and took her hand, raising it to his lips.

“I felt much better once I actually saw you standing there,” he confessed, kissing her hand.

“Well then, Mr. Calm and Collected, what’s next?” she asked with a grin, trying to ignore her blush. Her smile faded as he looked at her, her eyes dropping to his lips and she realized just how close they were. Oh dear, normally she was the one in control but at the moment she was very focused on restraining her urges. 

He let go of her hand, letting her fingers slip and softly rest on his tuxedo, and touched her face, his fingers traced her jaw and lightly touching her lips, leaning in.

“Dinner. That’s what normally comes next,” he said suddenly as she leaned in, grinning and pulling away. He nodded toward the table with a smirk.

“Is this payback for all the teasing I’ve done to you?” she followed him, not pleased with how flustered he was getting her. 

“I’m sure you’ll get me back later,” he teased. Based on the look on her face she was ready for the challenge.


	66. Anonymous asked: Write me fanfiction! I need Rebecca and Scott Buttergood!

For everything she had heard, her first impression of Scott Buttergood wasn’t as bad as she expected. Robert was definitely the nicest one of the brothers, but Scott seemed to be a decent enough person. Of course she had only met him about an hour ago and didn’t really know him, but she was relieved to not have another outright enemy.

“Oh, you’re back already?” Scott stood up from whatever he was inspecting on the ground when she rode up. 

“Yup, I need to get across, the shorter the path the better,” she nodded toward the gorge with the remains of a bridge. He looked at the pathetic set of planks and chuckled, shaking his head.

“Going around would be safest,” he told her, startled when her horse walked forward onto the wood, giving it a sniff while she inspected it from the saddle.

“I could help you with the bridge sometime, I’ve done work on a much larger bridge before,” she mused aloud. She had gotten a good look at it when she did the inspection for the report for Junior, but now she was judging if it was even safe for her horse to be standing on.

“Get off that!” he ignored her offered as he frantically waved for her to get back from the edge. She couldn’t help but grin but Midnightwarrior walked back to the safety of land at her request.

“You care, how sweet! Or is it the threat of paperwork that drives you?” she teased and he gave a nonchalant shrug.

“Incident reports are a pain to file,” he brushed off her suggestion with a smirk.

“Well I’ll be sure not to cause an incident then,” she promised.

And then promptly broke Midnightwarrior into a run and a leap across the gap in the earth. She landed safely, halting her horse on the other side and glancing back at the gaping Scott.

“Granted I only just met you, but I didn’t expect you to scream quite like that,” she grinned at his blush, amused when he hid his face under his hat.

“Like I said, if you want help with the bridge let me know, I’ll be back this way soon!” she called to him and waved, “bye, Scott!” In the distance she heard him give her a farewell in return. At least not all the Buttergoods were nasty human beings.


	67. Anonymous asked: Prompt: Gay asf

The street magician in Jorvik was adorable, if a bit confusing to Rebecca. She was unsure if Isebell’s mannerisms and word choice was actual flirting or an act of some sort. Rebecca was often fond of using pet names and terms of endearment regardless of the relationship she held with the person she was speaking to, but she couldn’t shake the idea that Isebell might have genuinely been flirting with her.

She was sad that she hadn’t run into Isebell or her monkey since their show at Fort Pinta, but she hoped to run into her soon. Ideally before Isebell met Ydris, Rebecca had this weird feeling she shouldn’t tell Isebell that magic was, in fact, real. It would ruin the surprise and wonder Isebell would no doubt experience upon realizing that Ydris wielded true magic, along with a number of other people around Jorvik. Ydris was the only magician though, or at least the only magic user who used such a title. Witches and Druids were their own titles, and it goes without question that a talking blue chipmunk would be magical. 

But Isebell didn’t know that, and Rebecca was very tempted to give her a five leaf clover to see what would happen. Probably nothing, Isebell might not even know what the significance of a give leaf clover just as Rebecca had not when she first helped Ydris. She wished she was better at the magic and soul detection stuff the druids were capable of sensing, she still had no idea how to look at a person and tell if they had magic or not. Deep down she hoped Isebell had potential for true magic, it would be heartbreaking for Isebell to finally meet Ydris only to be turned away because a lack of magical abilities. If that was even a thing, did everyone have potential for magic? She didn’t know.

She sighed, taking a pause in her thoughts as she breathed. Rebecca wondered where the magic was now, and hoped they would meet again soon. 


	68. Anonymous asked: So Professor Hayden is a yandere who seems to be maybe crushing on the MC? I don't even know, but I need at least one fic of your take on him and the situation.

Once upon a time there was a quiet boy. He was shy and stayed to himself, which he thought was surely for the best. He was strange after all, that’s what the kids around school always told him. Too weird, doesn’t laugh, doesn’t smile, always with his nose in the dirt or in a book about bugs. Instead of playing tag and catch he was doing boring things like digging up worms. He didn’t understand how the things the other kids did was “fun.” What was so fun about running around in circles all day when there was a whole world of wonder below their feet just waiting to be explored?

The quiet boy thought perhaps growing up would change things, either change himself or those around him, hoping it would be better. It stayed very much the same, the kids around him remained fun loving while he didn’t understand what was so fun about what they were doing. None of the risk taking or rebelling made sense to him, and so he remained the quiet boy that was generally left to the side, busy with his bug collection.

He was so used to this pattern that by the time he reached university it was just second nature to ignore all things fun and involving other people. Time had taught him that if it had less than six legs it was going to be a disappointing encounter. So when someone sat down at the same table as him in the library he assumed it was purely for academic reasons and pointedly ignored them until a soft voice spoke.

“Hi! I’m Ben Morris! Pleasure to meet you!” the boy blinked and looked at the blond young man, no doubt a fellow student like him. What was he grinning about? Why was he talking to him?

“Hayden,” the boy muttered, forced to be polite but not polite enough for more his last name. 

“So you’re a physics student?” Ben Morris nodded toward the book the boy was reading. The boy snorted in reply.

“I prefer chemistry myself, but most of the physics majors I’ve met so far are really nice! Whose your favorite professor?” the boy sighed and dropped his head into the book he was reading before he gave Ben Morris a glare.

“I’m in a physics class. Not a physics major,” he corrected the blond who blushed and laughed at himself.

“Ah sorry! You just seemed so engrossed in your book I assumed you must really enjoy it! What’s your major, then?” Hayden pinched the bridge of his nose, gave a slow sigh, and adjusted his glasses before looking at Ben Morris.

“Biology. What do you want?” the blond just smiled in response, not fazed by the harsh tone as he looked at the stack of books on the table.

“I should have guessed, I didn’t realize the library had that many books on fruit flies! And I’m just making a new friend, something wrong with that?”

“Friends are a waste of time,” Hayden’s deadpan voice finally weakened Ben’s smile. But only for a moment.

“Sometimes, I suppose, but I bet if you give me a chance, and maybe a smile, it might be fun!” Hayden didn’t give Ben a smile. Nor did he smile the next day, or the day after that, or for several weeks that followed. But for some reason Ben kept coming back, as chipper and enthusiastic as the first time they met. Hayden never figured out what made Ben decide to befriend the silent boy in the library. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to find out either, and his belief that friends were a waste of time was reconfirmed through pain.

And then, many years later on a day that was going just as poorly as any other day another blonde came into his life. She was enthusiastic and wanted to help, fascinated by his work and himself. Despite his grumpiness and age she was just as unfazed by his harshness as Ben Morris had been decades ago. He was almost happy to have someone like Ben in his life again, who did nothing but try to make him smile and help with his work. Almost. 


	69. Anonymous asked: you said you'd do cracks ships so Raptor and Alex for Relax :P

Alex was never the type of person one would suspect would be interested in the popular thing. Well, the popular thing for guys her age perhaps, but not the stereotypical things girls her age liked. While she didn’t dislike her friends for being interested in gossip or shopping or appearances she just didn’t quite understand the big fuss. It was entertaining to listen to, at the very least, and she knew going with her friends to the mall to distract themselves with dresses made them happy, but it just didn’t click with her the way engine parts did. 

But hidden away in the depths of her music collection was an artist that everyone loved to talk about, either to fan or hate. She had heard about him from Lisa, from what Alex remembered he was a student at the music academy Lisa went to that started her singing career. A part of her felt a bit disloyal for enjoying a rival to Lisa so much, but now and then when she was alone and trying to relax she found herself listening to Raptor. 

This was a secret that she never told anyone and she hoped to keep it that way, but fate decided to toy with her and threaten her secret.

“Ugh, seriously?” Lisa muttered, making Alex and Linda look up from their conversation around the cafe table. They looked from Lisa to the wall that she was glaring at and saw a new poster going up to advertise a coming attraction to the Jorvik Mall.

“Raptor?” Linda read, not remembering the name immediately.

“Why would they chose him for a week long concert fest? I guess I am technically on a break, I would have thought they would have tried getting in touch with me though,” Lisa didn’t mean to sound sulky and Alex had to hide a grin at Lisa’s pout. But a strange clenching in her stomach distracted her from Lisa’s complaining. Raptor was going to perform here, at the mall, somewhere Alex might actually be able to see him perform live! But if she saw him at a concert she couldn’t exactly go in a mask to keep herself anonymous. Yet she had an impulsive desire to see him, if only for a concert.


	70. Anonymous asked: Deep in thought - Pi

Pi had just done a terrible thing.

Well actually it was a good thing she had done, helping the little Soul Rider in training, but it was bad for her. Dark Core would figure out that she had tricked them and not sent the correct horse. Failure was not taken lightly, but the punishment for betrayal was even worse. She could only hope that the girl’s plan made it so that Pi did not appear to be at fault. If the druids could make it seem like they had switched the horses then perhaps Pi would have nothing to fear. 

She sighed and looked around her bubbling swamp, deep in thought as her mind dwelled on dismal things. Thus far her return to goodness had not been rewarding. It was one of the downsides of the Golden Apple, while it turned witches good by purifying them it also compelled them to do the right thing, even if it put them at risk. 

There was also the matter of the girl who had given her the Golden Apple. Pi knew her soul, and while she feared the wrath of Dark Core she was a witch, and as such knew Aideen’s story. Aideen was a creation goddess, that was true, and gave life to this island as well as the magic that all witches used. But Aideen was very much like a witch: purity and goodness was not guaranteed. The island still bore the scars of Aideen’s wrath, and Pi feared what this girl would do to her, even with only a fraction of Aideen’s soul awakened.  


	71. Anonymous asked: Rebecca and Jessica for Self-loathing please?

“Bet the self-loathing is getting pretty thick, isn’t it?” Rebecca and Midnightwarrior spun around to face the voice from the showers.

“What are you doing here?” Rebecca demanded, recognizing Jessica leaning against a tree, revealing herself to Rebecca now.

“You left Valedale in an angry huff, bet the druids screwed you over,” Jessica reached into her pockets and pulled out a nail file, meticulously caring for her nails.

“I’m sure you’re quite pleased with that idea,” Rebecca didn’t confirm or deny. But they had screwed her over, shunning her for using the actions she had to escape her torture. 

Jessica shrugged, commenting: “I guess it’s good for my side.”

“Are you actually here for something?” Rebecca was ready to ride off, or perhaps run Jessica over. She was still deciding which would make her feel better.

“They, the druids, the people you’ve been working your butt off for, screwed you over. They used you for how powerful you are and then kicked you to the side like you were nothing, like you were some obedient pawn,” Jessica explained in a voice that was angrier than Rebecca would have expected.

“You sound like it’s personal, somehow,” Rebecca was curious, and the flash of fury across Jessica’s face confirmed it.

“I’m a princess, no. Not a princess, I’m The Princess. The Dark Princess. But they… they relegated me to a Rider. Me! I was the Dark Princess! I was a general! I am not some peon!” Jessica snapped, although Rebecca could tell that the anger was not directed at her.

“Do you loathe yourself for that? Or them? You did mention loathing after all,” Rebecca asked.

“Them. And I won’t stand for that treatment,” Jessica declared and Rebecca noticed that Jessica’s nails that she had been filing were pointed claws.

“So why are you telling me?” 

“Because I have a feeling we are kindred spirits, and we can help each other. I saw the aftermath of what you did, and I also know how little the druids have trained you. What you used was raw, uncontrolled power. I can train you. The druids don’t trust you, and Sands is panicking and wants to destroy you,” Jessica explained with a grin, trying to tempt Rebecca with her offer.

“And how does this help you?” Rebecca knew there was a catch.

“Sands plan with the Dark Riders was doomed to fail the moment you stepped onto Jorvik. I know at some point Sands will try to take you out himself when all other attempts fail. He’s been calling the shots for too long, he’s become too comfortable in his position,” Jessica’s grin grew darker as she didn’t try to mask her excitement at the prospect.

“And you fill in the power void,” Rebecca concluded.

“Perhaps we will fill the void together. I make no delusions about turning you to Garnok’s side, you have no interest in such notions. But I know you have no delusions that the druids will trust you again. They’re scared of you, they won’t train you to your full potential. And what happens when you try to protect yourself and those you care about and can’t control how much energy you unleash? What happens when you can’t stop the buildup of power from destroying everyone around you?” Jessica’s hungry grin softened as she spoke, knowing it would be better to not look like a vicious maniac at the moment. 

Rebecca idly touched Midnightwarrior’s mane as she thought. That had been something she had considered before. She really hadn’t meant to kill people when she was escaping, and she had managed to stop herself from killing Justin, on purpose or accidentally. It was hard enough dealing with taking a life, she wasn’t sure she could handle taking an innocent one. Rebecca took in a deep and slowly exhaled.

“What did you have in mind?” Jessica grinned at Rebecca’s words.


	72. Anonymous asked: "Skip" Rebecca and Jessica plz???????

Rebecca decided to skip druid training for the day, mostly because the ‘training’ was just lectures on self control and the value of life. It wasn’t anything helpful or even new information. At first she had been happy when Elizabeth had told her that she wanted to continue training. But then it had been lectures and exercises on ethics and it grew to be terribly boring, not to mention not helpful. She needed to be learning how to handle magic, not read the same parable for the fourth time this week. 

This meant that Jessica had received a text letting her know that Rebecca would be free, and thus Rebecca was attending a very different training session down by the Thornrocks. 

Rebecca had expected the lectures and explanations with Jessica’s lessons, she needed to know the foundation and background to the magic she was using after all. She hadn’t expected to enjoy it as much as she was. Jessica seemed eager to have someone to listen to and instruct, and Rebecca’s enthusiastic expression to everything Jessica was teaching only made her more excited. Jessica also was more cautious than Rebecca had expected, Rebecca half expected Jessica to have her test her powers recklessly. But Jessica’s main priority was teaching Rebecca the foundations of magic and control. The most she had Rebecca attempt was generating energy in the form of little balls of light in her hand. Nothing deadly, nothing that could explode, nothing remotely harmful. 

She also didn’t expect for them to be flirting with each other. Rebecca would have to skip druid training more often.


	73. Anonymous asked: 21. Headache - Rebecca

Midnightwarrior nudged Rebecca’s knee, unsure why his rider was just sitting on his back staring straight ahead. Her hand absentmindedly patted his neck, not really registering what she was doing. The horse snorted and stomped his foot before he started walking on his own. 

“Take me somewhere nice,” his human mumbled from the saddle, not giving him directions as he wandered down the path. He knew his rider had been out of it for a few days. She described it as a headache but he wasn’t sure what that meant. She hadn’t fallen off him and he hadn’t seen her hit her head on anything, so why would her head ache? 

He wondered if it was the routine she had slumped into, she had been doing the same tasks day in and day out without any word from the druids or the Soul Riders. When lost in thought she’d stare into the distance and twitch. There was nervous energy building up inside of her, and he wondered if she could sense the same impending something that was coming. He didn’t know what it was, and he knew his rider didn’t know either, but something was coming at them, and it would be upon them in no time.


	74. Anonymous asked: Pi - Lost and found

She was lost. Lost in a fog of purple and swamp gas and darkness. It hadn’t always been like this, once she had been married and happy. Even when the magic had manifested she was still in a place of light and warmth. But somehow, somewhere, along the way she had started dabbling in shadows. Goodness was replaced by twisted obsession with the darkness. 

The swamp had become her home and refuge when the shadows had taken over, when the brightness of the sea and the sun had become too much. And she had been happy to be lost in the mist. 

And then she had been found. Suddenly a brightness had come into her swamp, shining like the sun. But Pi knew the sun was not on Jorvik, the light that had come to her was not the Sun, or the Moon, or even the Star, and she burned too long to be the flash of Lightning. 

She had been lost and then found, and she didn’t realize how much she missed the light.


	75. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: Just slaughter Rebecca's feelings No. 3

“Rebecca!” she didn’t react to Justin’s voice echoing her name through the snow. When she had headed up through the pass into Dino Valley she hadn’t expected him to follow her, the whole point of coming up here was to be alone. As much as that mockery of a ‘trial’ had hurt her, she didn’t blame Justin. He hadn’t meant any harm and it had clearly spiraled out of control in a way he had not expected. 

Midnightwarrior halted on the ledge, his whicker lost to the wind and storm. The reason Rebecca knew her faithful companion had made a sound was because of the way he twitched under her, his breath expelled with his noise. With a sigh and a pat she did not push him onward. He knew the way, he had been moving without her instruction since they had headed toward the pass, he had understood what she wanted. But now there was a hitch in their plans to disappear into the wilderness for a little while.

Above them they heard a very worried horse and rider, Justin trying to follow the tracks he had found instead of taking the safer route on the elevator. Midnightwarrior turned a half step so that he and his rider could watch the grey horse and young man carefully creep down the steep switchback in the cliff.

“There you are!” Justin shouted much louder than was necessary, clearly under the impression that Rebecca had not heard him shouting her name. Whether or not he could see her slight nod through the snow she did not care, and with a little squeeze Midnightwarrior continued on. The near panicky nickers behind them let them know that Justin was following. 

Instead of heading straight for the Kallters as Rebecca had originally planned, she hadn’t bothered to stop for any gear and knew Sedna and Shanook would be more than helpful, she turned Midnightwarrior into the shelter of the shed at the base of the elevator. Based on the fact that Justin was wearing the same thing he had been at the Druid meeting she knew he was as unprepared to be in the snow as she. Only difference for her was she was use to the cold and knew she could make it to the Kallters or the AAE camp before any damage was permanent. 

“What are you doing?” she asked once he had followed her into the shed along with his horse.

“What am I doing? What are YOU doing? You don’t have any snow gear or anything!” Justin demanded, his hands tucked deep into his armpits to stay warm.

“I’m at least in long clothes, you’re still in a t shirt. You didn’t need to follow me, I’m not going to do something drastic, I just want to be alone for a while,” she tried to reassure him while considering if she should throw her jacket to him or not. 

“You shouldn’t be alone right now! Come back with me!” she raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why he was so scared and concerned for her. Did he truly think she was going to do something? Did he think she would freeze out here?

“Look, I’m not angry with you. I don’t want to be around any of the druids right now, or anyone for that matter. I just want to explore the valley and think for a few days. If you need me call me and I’ll answer. I’m sure Jorvik can survive a few days without me.” Rebecca didn’t wait for a response, Midnightwarrior trotting past Justin and turning down the road once out of the shed. Justin wanted to follow but his numb hands and chattering teeth made him head for the elevator instead, much to the relief of his cold horse.


	76. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: Just slaughter Rebecca's feelings No. 3 (2)

Rebecca was amused to see the North Link construction site deserted and curious enough to direct Midnightwarrior between the machinery. There had been workers here just yesterday, but it seemed that no one had returned to work this morning. Perhaps it was a day off for the workers, but that seemed unlikely with GED’s attitude on underlings. It could have also been the project was cancelled, as Connie often complained that they had received no new orders or supplies to continue work. The work had simply come to a stop, which meant Connie was able to sneak away for hours at a time to hang out at the winery. Rebecca was quite sure the other employees at North Link also abandoned their posts on a regular basis without anything to do.

Midnightwarrior idly sniffed at the motionless machines, for once not running and burning fuel for no reason. It made the area smell better, as it wasn’t clogged with fumes of burning diesel. He gave a snort to let his human know he was growing bored of standing around and when she laughed and patted his neck he turned and cantered toward their original destination. 

“Ah, Miss Knightlight!” The Baroness waved to the girl and horse when they rode under the rose covered archway of the winery. The old woman nodded toward the mailbox when Rebecca returned the wave, making the girl slow her horse to check the mail. Sure enough there was a letter addressed to her in printed font. She didn’t bother going inside to read it, wondering if The Baroness would ask about the letter. She recognized the letter as poetry, a short poem written in short lines with no names or addresses attached. A blush lit up her face as she realized it was from Connie, still insisting on the silly secret admirer approach even after their dinner.

“Alright, I’ll read it!” she muttered to Midnightwarrior when he nudged her, distracting her from her happy thoughts. For some reason she felt as though her horse wanted her to read it aloud, as though he cared about her love live. Of course, considering how close they were Rebecca had no doubt that Midnightwarrior had some inclination of what was going on. He wasn’t stupid by any means.

“ ‘There once was a child’,” Rebecca began, confused by that sort of start. What a strange love poem.  
“ -‘who thought she had won  
when she made the man exiled’-” the blood in Rebecca’s cheeks had drained as she realized what she was reading.  
“ ‘But what will be done  
with the traitorous trainee?  
She never should have crossed me!’”

She stared at the neatly printed letter in her hands, now crinkled from her worried hands. Her initial confusion about why poetry was the method used to deliver the message was nothing compared to the realization and the pain in her heart.

“He has Connie,” she mumbled, paralyzed with fear and guilt.


	77. Anonymous asked: 20. Sparkle – Rebecca and Derek

“Ah, Rebecca! I was hoping you’d stop by!” Derek called to the young woman with a friendly wave. She tilted her head to the side and Midnightwarrior halted by the post office.

“You told me to come, why wouldn’t I?” she puzzled at his nonchalant attitude. The letter he had sent her was vague and merely said he had information and needed her help. What that information was and what sort of help he needed she did not yet know.

“Of course, of course! You are always willing to help someone as soon as they make a plea for aid! Come in,” he beckoned her, disappearing from view and appearing a moment later through the door he head opened on the side. With a pat to her horse to stick around she dismounted and followed him inside, curious about what the inside of the post office looked like.

As expected there were letters everywhere, along with packages in the midst of processing. But they did not stay amongst the postage, instead Derek motioned for her to follow him downstairs into the basement. Her obedience was rewarded with him turning sharply with a device, scanning her with a serious expression.

“Derek what the heck?” she demanded, stepping back and staring at the scanner. It made a pleasant tone and Derek nodded his head, smiling up at her apologetically.

“Had to make sure you weren’t bugged, sorry!” he explained but it just brought up more questions.

“Who are you? Who do you work for?” Rebecca turned serious, stiff and suspicious. She was higher than him on the stairs, with the high ground she had the advantage if he tried to attack her.

“Derek is my real name. Remember how I said I was once a photographer?” he tried to explain, realizing this was going badly. She nodded once and he continued, “that is true, I was a photographer, still am actually. Anyway, I came to Jorvik for a fashion company looking for a new model, and that’s when I met Anne.” He paused when he saw the recognition in Rebecca’s eyes.

“I could tell she was special when I took her audition photos, but I didn’t know how special she was until I developed the photos and saw… shining. She and her horse had this light around them, sparkling and glowing. I’d never seen anything like it before!”

“What sort of camera do you have? An aura camera?” she asked, confused about where this was going and why he was grinning at her question.

“It was a special camera developed by the government that can see the very essence of the subject’s soul,” he said as if it was perfectly obvious.

“And a model hunter would need a government camera that sees souls because? You’re a spy or government agent, aren’t you,” the last part wasn’t a question, it was the only thing that made sense. He nodded.

“Good to know, but that doesn’t explain why you asked me to come,” she continued and decided to follow him when he nodded and continued down the stairs.

The basement was covered in photographs and newspaper clippings, bits of string and scrawled notes on paper and the walls. Derek closed the door behind her as she looked around, inspecting the various images of Jorvik and the people. 

“I know you are with the Soul Riders, I’ve seen you with them countless times, and I think you might be able to help me,” Derek began, watching Rebecca drift around the room, her eyes searching and falling on a picture of Anne that he kept next to the radio and his phone charger in the hopes that one day the silence from her would be broken.

“With what?” she asked as her eyes left the photo of Anne and went back to the cluttered walls. Derek watched Rebecca carefully for a moment, hoping his suspicions were correct.

“I found Anne, and I need your help to rescue her.”


	78. more RebeccaxConnie fluff for a sad Anna

Rebecca sighed again, looking up at the stars from the ground. The events of earlier that evening kept spinning through her mind, making her grin and wriggle with happiness. It had been hours since her date with Connie had ended, but she still hadn’t managed to sleep at all. The best she had done was change out of her dress and settle down at The Baroness’ race track for the night. 

Midnightwarrior was munching away with an occasional glance and nicker to his lovesick human. When she made yet another sigh he took a few steps toward her so that his nose was at her face, blowing on her softly.

“I really like him,” Rebecca whispered to her horse who answered with a whicker. Rebecca giggled and stroked her horse’s face, distracted from her thoughts to focus on petting her horse and studying Midnightwarrior’s kind and intelligent eyes. At some point her hand fell and he gave a satisfied huff, glad that his human had finally fallen asleep.

“Rebecca?” she grinned, feeling her face grow warm at Connie’s voice. What a pleasant dream.

“Rebecca! Are you ok? Why are you out here?!” at the panicky tone she jolted up, realizing she wasn’t dreaming anymore. There in the morning sun was Connie standing over her, reaching down to shake her awake.

“I’m fine!” she sat up quickly, “I just spent the night here.”

“Why here? Why not at one of the stables or inns?” Connie’s worry faded but his curiosity grew. 

“Cheaper,” she yawned the word, stretching as she woke up fully.

“But what are you doing here?” she asked as she looked for her horse, spotting him a little distance away eating breakfast. An ear was focused on the pair of humans, and the other twitching to listen for danger. That made her feel better.

“I was heading to the winery today, still no new instructions at North Link. Do you want to get some breakfast?” the question seemed to pop into his head and out his mouth before he could think it through. 

‘I’ve got some supplies so I’m fine. You’ve eaten though, correct?” she checked while her fingers began running through her hair to undo the knots and get the leaves out.

“I’ve had breakfast, but when was the last time you had a proper breakfast?” her noncommittal shrug made him purse his lips for a moment as he thought.

“C’mon, The Baroness likes us enough to let us use her kitchen,” he offered his hand and she snorted a giggle, realizing she wasn’t getting out of this. Not that she wanted to, after their date last night she was more than happy to spend more time with him. 

Midnightwarrior was trotting over before she had even stood up fully, knowing it was time to go. Connie waited for Rebecca to tack up the horse and hitched a ride with them the rest of the way to the winery.

As Connie had guessed, The Baroness was more than happy to let them cook up something for themselves, a certain happy twinkle in her eye as she watched them leave. Rebecca wondered if this looked back, her and Connie appearing together in the morning, her with messy hair with leaves still stuck to her. If anyone thought anything they remained silent, although the winery was rather empty this early in the morning. Much to Rebecca’s surprise and amusement Connie insisted that he cook something for her and made her wait for him to be done. She didn’t mind the chance to freshen up and get the leaves and dirt off.

She did mind just sitting at the table, wondering just what Connie was cooking up. To pass the time she studied the dining room with all the formal decor. She wondered if The Baroness was really ok with them using the formal dining room for breakfast, the kitchen would have been fine. But she didn’t have a chance to go ask The Baroness just to be sure, as Connie appeared with a platter complete with a lid so there would be a reveal.

“Aren’t I lucky, getting breakfast after just one date? What will people think?” she teased as he placed the tray in front of her. He gave her a confused look, not understanding the joke.

“We appear early in the morning after a date, me looking quite a mess,” his red face indicated that he understood her implication, his stammering making her laugh.

“I’m teasing, now then, o Master Chef, what have you prepared for my breakfast?” her question distracted him but he had to swallow and take a deep breath to recompose himself. When he had he made a flourish of his arms, making a great show before he would reveal the food to her. She half expected it to be cereal.

“For the lovely lady,” he said with a charming grin, revealing a delightfully garnished omelette, complete with a bowl of chopped fruit and toast.

“Well, I am impressed,” she admitted, Connie beaming at the compliment before a shocked expression crossed his face when she grabbed his collar, “you are most surprising, Connie.”

He swallowed, trying to come up with something intelligent to say with her that close to him, her hand hooked on his shirt. Her grip relaxed but her fingers remained hovering above the pulsing skin of his neck, her finger tips trailing up his flesh to caress his face. He went still, staring at her, unsure what to do except wet his lips before biting them in uncertainty.

“Thanks for breakfast!” she said suddenly, letting him go and digging into the food. He almost stumbled back, finding himself gasping for air before he recomposed himself.

“That was for last night, wasn’t it?” he recalled his teasing last night, her lips twitching into a smile and she looked at him.

“Of course not!” she said in mock indignation that he would even suggest such a thing. He was about to make a snarky reply when her hand was pulling him down by the back of his head, her lips connecting with his. Her initial roughness immediately softened once their mouths were together, and much to Connie’s surprise it was not a quick peck, her lips lingering and he took the invitation. 

“That was for last night,” she breathed when she pulled away to gasp for air, thoroughly pleased by his dazed expression and feeling weightless herself.


	79. Anonymous asked: Travel – Rebecca and Derek

Rebecca did not act surprised when Derek said Anne was in another dimension, although she was curious to know how he knew. Turned out his camera was able to see more than a person’s soul, at least when pointed at one of the Pandoric cracks or the ruin stones that were especially active with Pandoric energy. Unfortunately, by the time Derek had deciphered what the pictures were showing him Rebecca had already closed all the cracks, the easiest way for them to get to Pandoria.

“They wouldn’t have been stable, I have no idea how we would have returned through one,” Rebecca had said when he had mentioned the possibility and he nodded, guessing she had a better understanding of the cracks. She was the one closing them after all.

This led to a discussion about Pandoria, a topic Rebecca and Derek knew precious little of. She knew nothing of portal magic, and had never been to Pandoria, but Derek insisted he knew where she was. None of the cracks were directly over where Derek thought she was, but he knew the general direction she would be in. Assuming, of course, that Jorvik’s cracks had fixed locations in Pandoria that corresponded with their locations in Jorvik. 

Regardless of the countless issues and questions they had, Rebecca agreed to help Derek. This promise included doing further research with the Soul Riders and the Druids, people Derek did not have access to. They were unsure if they should include the Druids in this rescue mission, and so decided to wait until they either needed help or had conclusive proof of Anne’s whereabouts in Pandoria.

And this meant a little traveling, first to pick up a telescope and then to the look out position Rebecca had used to watch Dark Core.

“That’s the only active portal that I know of, but I don’t know where it goes, or if it works both ways. It might only be one way, I’ve only seen people come out of it,” Rebecca explained as Derek looked through the binoculars Rebecca had handed to him.

“Do you think your camera can give us any information from this far away? I don’t want to get closer unless we have to,” she watched his grim expression, not liking the idea of another trip out to the Dark Core platform.

“I can try from here, but the closer the better,” Derek said after a moment of thought and handed back the binoculars.

“Let’s get the camera set up and get some shots. I can go out while you develop the first batch of film,” Rebecca decided and was not surprised when she was met with protests.

“It’s my camera! I should be the one taking the shots, and it’d be too dangerous to go alone!” he tried to convince her, not happy when she snorted a laugh.

“Every time I’ve gone out there I’ve been alone. I know that place like the back of my hand at this point. I’ll be in and out in a matter of minutes. Besides, it’s riskier with two,” her attempts at convincing him were as unsuccessful as his.

“I am a spy you know, a properly trained one at that! If anyone is qualified it is me!” he protested.

“So am I,” that statement made him stammer to a halt, “and does the camera need two people to operate?”

“…No.”

“Then only one of us needs to go. And as far as Dark Core knows you aren’t with the druids, you wouldn’t want to be seen snooping around their platform and blow your cover,” he grumbled something that sounded like it might have been an unhappy agreement and started fussing with the camera and telescope to take the pictures. Rebecca was satisfied with that victory and sat back to wait for him to be done. 


	80. Anonymous asked: Fall – Rebecca and Pi

“What happened to you? To make you dabble in dark magic I mean,” she had such a nonchalant way of phrasing it that it almost made the witch laugh at the bold curiosity.

At first the witch had been unnerved by the girl’s presence, her soul’s burning light and eternal singing. But the girl had turned the witch good once more, had achieved her task and gotten what she had wanted, and then continued to visit the witch. Pi wasn’t sure what to make of it, but as she spent more time with Rebecca she realized that this girl was truly oblivious. The girl did not understand herself, or souls, or magic, and Pi wondered why the Druids would keep her ignorant of such important things. Pi also knew it was only a matter of time before Rebecca learned these things for herself, but for now she has oddly comforted to have the company.

“Temptation, my dear girl. Or perhaps thirst for knowledge. Maybe I was bored. It happened so long ago I can’t even remember the reasons,” the witch answered after several moments of reflection, not looking up from her latest brew.

“So there wasn’t a deciding moment? It was a more gradual thing?” Rebecca asked to understand, glad that Pi had not taken offense.

“A potion does not form in an instant, it takes many ingredients and time to stew,” Pi amused herself with a simple metaphor and saw Rebecca nod from her peripheral vision. Then Pi decided to be boldly curious herself.

“And what of your fall? Was it a slow descent or a swift plunge?” she asked knowing that she was be greeted with a confused expression.

“I haven’t fallen? Well, I’ve ended up in the swamp a few times, but in terms of going evil or something I don’t think I have?” Rebecca chewed on her lip, wondering if she had turned evil without noticing but not understanding how that could be. Her teeth on her lip paused when Pi let out a low cackle, entertained by some private joke.

“Not that you remember, my dear. Not that you remember,” Pi crooned but did not explain despite Rebecca’s questions. Pi wasn’t sure if this was a good idea or not, the druids might be displeased with her, but surely it would be a good thing to have Rebecca remember, right?


	81. Anonymous asked: 19. Sigh - Ydris

The Wizard and the Witch sat in a carnival carriage sipping tea. They were silent for a long while as they thoughtfully and slowly drained their cups, as they normally reserved serious matters for after the first round of tea.

“She does not remember,” Pi began with a tink of her teacup on her saucer. Ydris gave a nod and finished his cup.

“She can not see,” was his response, and she nodded just as he had.

“But you wish her to,” he looked up from his tea cup as he said this, his eyes fixed on the witch.

“She will remember, it would be unwise to try to hide the truth,” Pi assured him, not showing her annoyance when he smirked.

“We are hiding nothing, nor is it our responsibility. It is the druids who should remind her,” Ydris’ nonchalant response made Pi give a measured sigh.

“I would rather be owed than targeted,” Pi explained.

Ydris said nothing and waved his hand, pouring out another cup of tea for the both of them before he answered.

“You think she will feel a debt to those who help her remember. But we would not be her targets,” Ydris said with a grin. Pi nodded in agreement but was not comforted.

“They don’t want to remind her,” Pi did not share his grin and he chuckled at that.

“Of course not, there is a good chance she’ll kill them if she has any fraction of her rage remaining,” the wizard was unconcerned until Pi scowled.

“And if she does have even a fraction of her rage, what will the island look like when she is done?” that made the wizard lose his smirk and sip his tea.

“And yet you want her to remember, knowing full well what might happen?” Ydris asked after several moments of thought.

“How long before she remembers on her own?” Pi’s question was rhetorical but Ydris mulled it over regardless.

“Could be tomorrow, could be years. I do not know what is preventing her memories, or what will trigger them to return,” Ydris admitted.

“She has acquired a rune wand,” Ydris’s cup clanked against his saucer at this new information from Pi. He then took in a steady breath, held it, and exhaled slowly. This action made Pi stiffen in worry.

“Midnightwarrior was speaking to the creatures in my cages,” Ydris and Pi stared at each other, processing what this could mean.

“The pegasus?”

“Yes,” Pi knew the answer before Ydris could confirm.

“It will not be long before she can see them,” Pi did not need to say it, but she did anyway as though to make the point clear.

“And how are we to keep her in check when she remembers?” Ydris wondered aloud to what plans Pi might have.

“We make her remember the good before the pain, and when the pain comes explain so she understands. If her rage returns at least she will not be able to blame us for hiding the truth,” the witch wasn’t sure as to how they would do what she proposed, but that was why she had come to the wizard in the first place.

“You think she will spare us?”

“Would you rather not give her a reason to thank us?” Pi countered his question. He chuckled for a moment and returned to his tea for another sip.

“Couldn’t afford to not take that gamble,” he admitted and Pi finally smiled, taking a sip of her tea with an added taste of satisfaction.


	82. Anonymous asked: 16. Just another day – Mario and Sabine

Just another day of work watching the sky through the telescope for Mario. It wasn’t nearly as entertaining to watch as a television but he loved it just the same. Despite the high altitude and the scarf he found himself wiping sweat from his forehead, and after he caught himself on the fifth wipe he pulled away from the telescope and looked around.

“About time you noticed me,” a silky voice came from a grinning set of thin lips. The young woman dressed in red advanced on him, capturing his lips in her own before he could control the redness spreading across his face.

“I  _am_  working, Sabine,” he tried to tell her as if she didn’t know that already, his words caught by her tongue. She purred in response to his weak protests.

“Of course, Mario, watching the stars must be so much more captivating than watching me,” she teased, her hot breath nearly choking him as he tried to think clearly. 

Sabine had come to the shop at the observatory one day and noticed Mario, and much to his embarrassment he could not keep his eyes off her once he saw her. It was only a matter of days before she returned, and soon she was coming to say hello to him every other day or so. Well, more accurately, she came to say hello every other night. She had been fascinated by his work, curious about what he did and what he saw, and that passion and interest had drawn Mario to her until he was looking forward to seeing her as often as possible.

Now she was becoming a major distraction, just as he had begun to notice something strange about the sky. He couldn’t figure out what it was, and her presence was not helping. He couldn’t think when she was around, or at least he couldn’t think about anything else but her, but he couldn’t imagine telling her to go away.

“They aren’t-” he stammered, trying to form words when her lips withdrew from his mouth and descended on his neck, “- but it is what I am paid to do.”

“And have the stars moved unexpectedly in the past few days? Are the planets where they shouldn’t be? Is an asteroid going to hit the Earth?” she asked him. She was so hot, he could tell when she was near him because of how much warmer he got. Perhaps it was not her, but simply the effect she had on him.

“No…” was all he managed to get out before she pressed against him and he had to hold back a groan.

“Then if all is right with the universe there is nothing interesting to see out there,” he wasn’t sure if he agreed with her or not but he could not manage to put any words together to form a coherent response. The chuckle she gave told him that she was pleased with his reduction to restrained groans and gasps, and with his resistance gone she once more kissed him. 


	83. Anonymous asked: you've done Music before but Lisa and Anne please?

“I could hear you in Pandoria,” Anne said suddenly from her relaxed position in the grass. Lisa looked over at her, expecting her to elaborate. 

Ever since Anne and Lisa had been rescued from Pandoria they found solace in each other, basking in the sun and warm forest near Valedale. They did not need to explain what had happened or how they had changed to each other, as they had both gone through it.

“What do you mean?” Lisa finally asked as she looked back up at the sky through the tree canopy.

“You sang,” Anne’s tone made it seem like the words should have been obvious.

“Really? You could hear that? We weren’t anywhere near each other!”

“Yet you could sense me,” Anne pointed out and heard Lisa shift in the grass as she shrugged.

“Well yea, but I couldn’t hear you,” Lisa mumbled.

“I figured that out after screaming a lot. Your power also isn’t focused on Pandoria though, so I should have known shouting wouldn’t work,” Anne confessed and made Lisa feel guilty.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know! If I had heard you-”

“No worries, it wasn’t your fault. At least I was able to listen to your music for a while,” Anne smiled. Hearing Lisa singing and sensing a friendly soul was the first bit of hope she had experienced in Pandoria for a very long time.

“Speaking of your music, how is your career doing?” Anne asked before Lisa could think of a response.

“We’re on a break right now, I’ll probably do another world tour when we’ve defeated Garnok,” Lisa wasn’t sure when that would be, no doubt her manager would be upset by a terribly long break unless she produced some good songs from her ‘vacation.’

“Another? Quite a successful career then,” Anne teased, laughing when Lisa looked at her and stuck her tongue out.

“I hope you write a song about us. Or an album, all about the war and the soul riders,” Anne added.

“I’m not sure the druids would appreciate me telling the world about us,” Lisa’s statement of fact was met by Anne waving her hand dismissively.

“Nah they’ll be all for it, fans will just think it’s a metaphor for something. Or you’ll use metaphors and vague terms in your lyrics. Imagine all the fan theories for what your songs mean!” Anne suggested, grinning when Lisa snorted.

“You do realize I have to do interviews and people will ask me what the song means, right?” Lisa pointed out but smiled at Anne’s enthusiasm.

“You could say it’s about love or losing a friend or fighting personal demons or just about anything and they’d probably believe you. Or you could just say the album tells a story. Don’t some artists do that?” Lisa sighed and relented to Anne’s insistence.

“Alright fine I’ll make some songs about all of this when we’re done,” Lisa gave a mock groan as though it was some terrible burden she was accepting.

“Perfect. I expect a cut since it was my idea,” Lisa’s snort made Anne giggle.

“What do you need the money for? You’re already a world famous dressage competitor!”

“It’s the principle of the matter,” Anne insisted in mock seriousness and got a face full of grass in response along with Lisa’s laughter.


	84. Anonymous asked: "Blue" with Rebecca and Ydris ???

“Traded out your usual black attire?” Ydris called to Rebecca as she rode up to the carnival. She shrugged and halted Midnightwarrior.

“Haven’t been doing much night riding recently, figured I’d change into something different,” she explained the switch to a blue outfit and raised an eyebrow when the wizard smirked at her.

“Wouldn’t bright colors be safer for night rides?”

“Not if you don’t want to be seen,” his grin indicated that he already knew that she would say something along those lines.

“Ahh. So now you are in blue to be unseen in the water?” she wondered why he was in such a jovial mood, but humored him nonetheless.

“Nah, it’s just my favorite color.”

“What a coincidence! Aideen’s favorite color is said to be blue, that’s why the large things on this earth like the ocean and the sky are blue,” she again raised an eyebrow and wondered how that could be a coincidence. Last she checked many people considered blue their favorite color.

“I don’t think that’s why those things are blue,” she refrained from asking about the connection with Aideen, knowing she wouldn’t get an answer she could understand if she tried to ask.

“But of course, your science has the answer?”

“Hey I’m not denying magic, I just don’t see why science and magic can’t exist together. Assuming they aren’t the same thing in the end,” the last part was muttered more to herself than for Ydris to hear.

“There are certainly stranger things,” and then he went silent, looking up at her as if expecting something.

“… So did you need me for something? Have something you want help with?” she finally asked.

“Not at all! Although I did have a delightful cup of tea with Pi recently,” he continued smiling like he knew far too much. Although to be fair he normally smirked like that, so this was by no means unusual aside from his constant lapses of silence that forced her to speak.

“… And?”

“Oh that’s all!” she let out a silent puff through her nose, not annoyed enough for a full blown sigh but then shook her head and shrugged in accepted defeat.

“Well, if you don’t have anything you need help with I have some things to take care of in Epona. Good day, Ydris!” she didn’t expect him to have any proper reply so she didn’t wait for him to respond as she turned Midnightwarrior and waved farewell.


	85. Anonymous asked: Looking back with Alex if you're still doing prompts?

Looking back, Alex’s last conversation with Anne had not gone well. She had been angry, at least part of it was anger, another part of the problem was fear. Anne was leaving for a dressage competition tour, leaving Alex behind for her dream. And that had hurt, Alex didn’t want to be abandoned even though it was an irrational fear: Anne wouldn’t be gone forever. But there was still the pain of feeling left behind by a dear friend for a world of glamour and fame, a world that Alex did not belong in.

But she hadn’t said any of that to Anne when they had fought, she had tried to justify her anger through nobler means. They had defeated Garnok in an unconventional way, and Fripp was not sure how long it would stop Dark Core and Garnok’s plans. For all they knew Garnok could come back in full force while Anne was busy prancing around Spain or who knows where, and that would leave the Soul Riders down one.

That argument had not gone over well, since Alex had not had the same sort of argument over Lisa leaving for her music career. And she did not have a good explanation for why she was more upset over Anne leaving compared to Lisa, at least not one she could put her finger on.

All this had resulted in harsh words and the two of them storming away from each other, and Anne left without saying good bye.

Looking back, Alex would give anything to undo the last conversation she had with Anne.


	86. Anonymous asked: 15. Jump – Rebecca and Justin

Her crazy plan had worked. They hadn’t told the druids what they were doing, especially not after ostracizing Rebecca, but they had been successful. Rebecca’s research with her kallstones had paid off, and now she and Justin were making a mad dash for their lives as the entire Dark Core offshore platform crumbled around them. The boat waiting for them was far away from the platform, not wanting to be caught up in the explosions, and both Rebecca and Justin had flare guns to signal to their ride after swimming away from the wreckage they were leaving behind.

But first they had to get off the platform alive which was proving to be a bit difficult with Dark Core goons after them, the metal around them snapping and melting, and no doubt a very pissed off group of Generals ready to kill them.

“How pissed do you think the Druids will be when they find out about this?” Justin asked as he and Rebecca scrambled to outrun the men chasing them.

“Probably-“ she paused to punch a goon who had surprised them around a corner and made a grab at Justin, when her fist connected with him a shock when through the goon dropping him to the ground, “-very. But they’ll thank us later. Now move!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Justin would have laughed at her order except for the part where they could die at any moment and he was the one currently leading them through the maze of walls that made up the interior of the platform. Having lived here and exploring every part of it he knew how to get through much faster than Rebecca would have on her own. That’s the only reason she let him come along on this adventure.

“JUMP!” he shouted a moment before he grabbed her hand and jumped over a crack in the floor where the metal had been ripped apart, leaving a hole going down several floors. The floor under them creaked and bent when they landed but held them up as they continued running.

“Thanks,” Rebecca muttered as they ran hand in hand, dodging wreckage and bullets. Three more turns and they were outside, the finish line in sight. The metal beneath them whined as it strained, the torque from the collapsing structure tearing the walkway apart and bringing the two saboteurs down with it.

Justin was lucky, he only felt the metal jerk down at an angle but it continued to hold his weight but his tight grip on Rebecca snapped him back as she fell. The weight of her body dropping into nothingness only to be stopped by his hand yanked on his body, slamming him to the ground but he instinctively held on, not about to let her go.

“I’ve got you!” Justin offered her his other hand. She swung up her other arm to reach for him and let out a yelp when the floor under Justin jerked down a few more inches, threatening to give way.

“You’ve got to let go!” Rebecca told him.  
“Give me your hand!”  
“It won’t hold for long-” she protested.  
“I’m not leaving you!” he insisted as she spoke, both of them frantically speaking over the other.  
“-let me go!” she let go of him, hoping he wouldn’t be able to hold her with just his one hand without her help.  
“We’ve got time-“ he slid closer the edge as the floor groaned.  
“No we don’t! Now go!”  
“Not without you!”  
“Justin, I promise if you let me go-“  
“No! Just reach for me!”  
“-I will be fine and-“  
“I can’t leave you!”  
“-you will see me again but only-“ she glanced back behind her, hearing the approaching goons that Justin was too focused to notice.  
“You’ll die! I can’t- can’t-!”  
“-if you let me go right now!” she tried to convince him it would be ok, tried to reassure him with her eyes and her words.  
“You have to come with me so we can escape!”  
“Now, Justin!”  
“We’ll get back and get ice cream!”  
“Justin, go!”  
“And I’ll ask you out properly and we’ll-“

Her eyes went wide and her jaw slack as he spoke, his words cut off by a gunshot. She continued to stare up at him but her eyes no longer saw him, her protests silenced by a growing red stain through her chest.

He no longer heard the shouts, the screaming, the gunshots, the fire. It was all background noise to the panic inside his head whirling into a tangled frenzy until the only thing left making sense in his head was “Justin, go! Justin, go! Justin, go. Justin, go. Justin, go, Justin, go, Justin.”

She disappeared into the emptiness, her hand still outstretched toward him as she fell. And as for Justin, he followed her last wishes and ran to the end of the Dark Core platform, fired the first flare, and jumped.


	87. Anonymous asked: Frenemy w/ crackship James and Justin???

Justin and James were natural enemies, not that Justin realized that. But James had figured that out within a few days of knowing Justin. After all, they were business competitors, that makes them enemies. Along with the fact that Justin was so popular and charismatic and Moorland was so cheap, he was always a threat to taking away business from James.

At first James thought Justin was just trying to butter him up, try to make James drop his guard so that Justin could do some clever business maneuvering and run the Fort Pinta stables out of business. But after a while James realized Justin really did just want to be friends.

Talk about terrible business sense.

James could have used this to his advantage, however there was something that he liked about Justin, it must have been the charisma. But charisma and good looks be damned, James was going to make sure Justin didn’t turn out to be playing him the entire time by making sure he screwed Justin over before Justin could screw him over.

All of James’ scheming went right by Justin, totally unaware of the suspicions and hostility. Justin simply thought James was nervous around him. He often caught James staring at him intently and quickly looking away when he had been discovered, and James was always eager to spend time with Justin whenever Justin suggested they hang out. There was also the strange redness and frantic breathing whenever Justin arrived early at Fort Pinta to say hello to James. He had his suspicions but it took some time before he worked up the nerve to finally ask the question.

“Do you like me, James?” Justin had asked suddenly one day, James’ mind freezing in panic. How could Justin think that? James only tolerated Justin in order to learn about him and take advantage of him later. But if Justin wanted James’ affection, that would make him more easy to manipulate. Justin watched James’ reaction carefully, his heart clenching when James’ face went pale before a nervous smile broke over his lips.

“Do you want that?” James stammered, Justin smiling and leaning closer to James, making James heat up.

“I would, as a matter of fact,” Justin whispered. James wondered what sort of weird frenemies they were. Was Justin really a mastermind manipulator? Or was James the one who had the upper hand? James didn’t know what to think anymore, but he would do everything he could to make sure he came out on top.


	88. Anonymous asked: Trying - Linda

Linda sat up in bed with a groan and covered her face in a pillow. Despite her best efforts she couldn’t manage to get any visions whether she was awake or asleep. With how desperate things had been getting in the war it was vital for Linda to get any information she could, but her usual method was failing her now and she did not know why.

“Linda? What is it? Something wrong?” Alex’s voice on the line went from sleepy to near panic, her concern making Linda faintly smile.

“Nothing’s wrong, I just wanted to talk to someone. I realize it is late, sorry,” Linda apologized, wincing when she noticed it was a few hours to sunrise.

“Oh, yea, no problem! What’s up?” Linda could hear Alex shifting on the other end, probably sitting up to better talk to her friend.

“I’ve been…” Linda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “I’ve been trying to see things but nothing is working. I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong, I’m doing what I’ve always done, but it isn’t working!”

“Is something wrong with Meteor?” Alex asked while trying to mask a yawn.

“He’s fine, and I’m not sick either. But it’s like… like something is blocking me. Maybe I’m going crazy, but it almost feels like before Lisa came and everything happened,” Linda tried to explain but had no way of telling why this was happening.

“But you were able to see James’ dreams with Katja,” she knew her Lightning friend wasn’t understanding, although she didn’t understand herself.

“I think that was because I was focusing on a specific person. Trying to focus on things or people that I don’t directly have my hands on though… it’s not happening right now. I was able to do that before if I focused, or I’d have dreams after trying to have a vision when I was conscious. But now-”

“Something’s changed?” Alex finished Linda’s sentence, hearing a frustrated sigh from Linda.

“I don’t know what, but yes. Maybe it’s a sign Dark Core and Garnok is getting stronger, like it is casting shadows over my visions so I can’t see them anymore. I don’t know…” Linda trailed off, sincerely worried that she would fail everyone.

“Hey that makes sense, I mean Anne and Lisa were, or are, both missing and there are cracks appearing from Pandoria and the rune stones are going crazy with energy,” Alex tried to comfort her friend in the least comforting way possible.

“Jorvik is going to Pandoria in a hand basket, and I have no way to help stop it,” Linda moped. Usually she was the one with the answers, she was always the one who could handle anything but this? This had her terrified.

“What about the new girl? Have you tried looking with her? I needed her help to handle the cracks and the rune stones, maybe you just need some back up too?” Alex’s suggestion made Linda think.

“Maybe, it’s worth a shot,” Linda admitted, feeling more hopeful now than she had been a few minutes ago.

“I’ll let you sleep, talk to you tomorrow?” Linda said after a moment of thought and heard Alex move on the other end. No doubt Alex was nodding, too sleepy to remember that Linda couldn’t see her.

“Oh yea!” Alex added hastily, realizing nodding did no good over the phone, “I’ll check in to the library tomorrow and say hello!”

“Awesome, I’ll see you then! Good night!” Linda bade Alex good night and hung up. She did not immediately sleep and instead grabbed her glasses and headed to the window. For a while she sat and looked at the sky, hoping the night would help inspire her. It did not give her answers, but it did lull her to sleep so that Linda relaxed on the windowsill in a peaceful sleep. 


	89. Anonymous asked: Seasons change – Rebecca and Katja

Rebecca dangled in an uneasy sleep, not able to truly relax and could only surrender to pain and exhaustion. She couldn’t remember how long she’d been prisoner to Dark Core, it may have been a few days, it could have been weeks. She thought she was on day three, but time was difficult to keep track of. Neither sleep nor meals were regular enough for her to tell time, so she was resigned to guessing and trying to keep track of the hours without any aid.

The door opening jerked her out of her half sleep, determination and adrenaline the only thing keeping her even remotely coherent at the moment. For now her visitor was the white one, the one who had recently come through the portal, Katja. She remembered Katja and Alex had a history that involved Alex’s brother James, but the details were fuzzy at the moment.

Katja closed the door and inspected Rebecca critically, carefully stepping over blood on the floor as though she actually cared about keeping her boots pristine.

“So here you are,” Katja marveled. Rebecca remained silent, not in the mood to give a witty comeback.

“It’s strange seeing you like that. Seasons change, lives pass, even bodies change, but you haven’t,” the general mused and furrowed her eyebrows when Rebecca still did not speak or even seem to understand the words.

“You think you have, but I know that look. I may have been gone for a long time, but you? Compared to you, you were gone for an eternity. I recognize your look even if the others do not. They don’t realize what they are doing, and if they were smart they’d kill you now before you could become a threat,” Rebecca’s tired expression turned a bit darker at the mention of being killed.

“Lucky for you, I really enjoy being able to say ‘I told you so,’ and in your position you won’t be a threat to us ever again. I doubt even the druids realize what is happening. They won’t rescue you. This was a suicide mission for you from the start. How selfless and brave of you… you truly haven’t changed,” Katja said with a sneer before leaving Rebecca without another word. When she was alone once more Rebecca sighed, the pain in her body made her wince as she moved. She had no idea what Katja had been on about, and she wouldn’t be surprised if she had in fact dreamt it in her exhaustion, but she was pleased with one thing: Katja thought she was a threat. That was a mildly comforting thought while being held captive.


	90. Anonymous asked: Pi for Coffee or Tea?

“Coffee or tea?” Pi asked Rebecca cheerfully. Rebecca had stopped by and mentioned that Ydris had told her that he and Pi had spoken over tea. The witch had no idea how much the wizard had told Rebecca, but she had been preparing for this for a long time. Or at least since she had come up with this plan. The witch extended a cup of tea toward Rebecca, sure that she had pegged the girl correctly as a tea drinker.

“Oh, uh, sorry! I don’t really like either,” Rebecca blushed and rubbed the back of her head, smiling apologetically.

Pi wanted to scream. She had followed this girl around for a week trying to figure out what she liked to eat so that Pi could get on her good side. She had seen and overheard every meaningless conversation that passed between Rebecca and every possible person on Jorvik, sometimes even animals! Pi had followed her to the mall, gone through trash bins, been around more people than she had seen in her entire life, and she was positive that Rebecca drank tea. And yet, here Rebecca was, informing Pi that she didn’t like tea. Was Rebecca really just that polite that she wouldn’t decline a drink with someone unless she was given the option? How many other behaviors were out of politeness and the insane drive to help everyone and not out of a nature desire to do something? Pi had tried to learn everything she could about this girl but she was already stumbling and this was no doubt going to be a terrible start to this conversation.

She didn’t even know what the conversation was going to be about, it depended on how much Ydris had told Rebecca. If Rebecca knew nothing it would be possible to buy herself more time to get a grip on things but if Ydris had told the girl their plans or even, Aideen forbid, told Rebecca their suspicions about her then it was possible Rebecca was already dangerous. What was Pi to do?

“I am sorry, it’s something I’m a little self conscious… I’m fine with just water!” Rebecca continued after looking at Pi for several moments. Pi had just been standing there, a strained smile on her face and a tightly gripped teacup in her hand. The witch blinked and smiled a bit wider, if a bit forcefully, and nodded.

“Of course, dear! Don’t worry about it!” the girl blinked and wondered why Pi was so stiff when she turned away to get a glass of water. Rebecca had simply said that Ydris had mentioned tea with Pi, and here the witch was barely able to keep calm for some reason. Rebecca wondered what sort of tea session the witch and wizard had had.


	91. Anonymous asked: Rebecca and Raptor for Soul

The girl that had helped Ms. Ironsaddle never came to one of the fashion shows, or at least he didn’t see her in the crowd. He reasoned even though it was a small auditorium, compared to some concert venues, it would be difficult to distinguish faces while he performed. It was bright on stage and he was busy performing, he couldn’t risk her performance to study the faces in the crowd. But he had hoped she would come backstage and say something after she watched him sing.

He did not see her again, and as Jorvik’s Fashion Week packed up and he moved on to his next gig he realized he still didn’t know who she was. There was no way he’d be able to find her using social media, she had said herself that she spent most of her time on her horse and rarely checked a computer. Not to mention the possible backlash from the fanbase that dreamed of being with him. He knew that fans could be aggressive, if not downright dangerous, to anyone who might seem too close to their beloved celebrity.

So he did not press the issue or try to find her. Besides, how many girls would fit her description anyway? A young woman who loves horses with blond hair and blue eyes? That narrowed it down to only a few million women if he was lucky. It wasn’t even like he was interested in her or pining for her. That would be ridiculous. He just, on the rare occasion, would notice something that would remind him of her. Like anytime he saw someone on a dark horse, or blond hair, or an all black outfit, or rectangular black glasses, or light bulbs.

Lucky for him he didn’t see those things often so long as he didn’t leave his house or look at the tv or a computer or phone or at any light fixtures.

Which is to say he was a bit of a wreck.

Working was able to keep him busy, and his manager was pleased to see Raptor’s dramatically increased focus on work. Work also happened to include a big social push, putting Raptor in important places with important, and beautiful, people. Most were fellow entertainers like him but there were also models thrown into the mix, and his social feeds were full of pictures of him either hard at work or getting selfies with fellow artists.

When Raptor’s manager, Mr. Bigcake, mentioned Jorvik Fashion Week he was not surprised by Raptor’s enthusiasm to perform there once again. What he didn’t know was the moment Jorvik Fashion Week was mentioned Raptor’s heart sped up. Raptor swore to himself that it was because he had enjoyed performing there and it would be good to perform close to home.

He continued to tell himself this until he found out he could distinguish faces in the crowd as he performed, so long as they were in a proper place. He bent down to touch the adoring fans around the stage as he sang, knowing they were screaming for him. Some were faces that were vaguely familiar, fans that managed to attend many performances and position themselves so they would be seen. The rapper sang his soul out for his fans as he straightened up, his eyes moving over the seats behind the moshing fans. She was in the second row, high enough that the throng around the stage did not obscure her from view. The girl was not jumping or screaming, he couldn’t even tell if she was smiling in the moment that he saw her. But it had to be her, she seemed so calm and not at all excited as if she didn’t understand what the fuss was about. Right? Is that how she would be? Or was she just someone who was there for the fashion and not interested in the performance? Did he even properly remember what she looked like or was he mixing up her face with someone else’s?

The thoughts were whirling through his mind as he left the stage. Later he would be happy he performed so often he could do it on autopilot as he did not remember anything after seeing her. The congratulations were the same, so clearly he managed to do just fine even though he got lost in his own mind as she found himself pacing in the back after the performance. Was that really her? Was he just going crazy? Was it just someone who looked like her? There were lots of girls who were blond with blue eyes and wore glasses it would be easy to confuse them. Was there any point in worrying? Even if it was her she might not come back stage to say hello. Why would she? Should he tell someone he needs help and hope that word gets to her? She always managed to find people who needed help, maybe he could use that to his advantage.

“Raptor!” he jumped, visibly startled out of his thoughts by someone calling his name. By the look an their face they had been calling his name for a while now.

“Your fan meet up, remember? They can’t come back stage, so you’ve-“ the assistant began and Raptor nodded with a smile.

“Gotta go love the fans!” Raptor posed for a moment, the assistant clearly not impressed after working with so many celebrities, before he went back out onstage for the semi formal meet and greet. There was still a separation, he was onstage and they were around it, but he sat on the edge with his feet hanging over. The fans were thrilled by this and ‘personal boundaries’ all but left their vocabulary.

Between hugs, hand shakes, selfies, and autographs he glanced over to the second row to see if the girl was still there. Maybe he had been wrong, maybe it wasn’t the girl that had helped Ironsaddle and was changing light bulbs in Jarlahiem. But no, she was really there, and he was almost positive it was her. She was sitting next to another blonde woman in a suit, the businesswoman looked intimidating. Yet the girl was sitting next to the woman without any visible apprehension, listening to the woman talk. Somewhere between autographs and talking to fans he noticed that the businesswoman had left, but the young woman was still there as though she was waiting for something, her eyes on him.

Was she waiting for him? Was she shy and hoped to talk to him without the mob?

Raptor’s personal assistant for the week came and reminded him that the next show would soon be starting, and with a bit of help from other guards managed to untangle his fans from Raptor’s body. And retrieve his shoes that had mysteriously been taken off his foot without him realizing it (he found a phone number and a picture crammed inside the toe of one and a piece of lace that he was pretty sure was a thong in the other). He managed to cast a look at her, her body language expressive enough for him to tell she was disappointed.

A part of him hoped she would sit through another performance so she could talk to him, but he didn’t expect her to stick around. He knew some fans would be there for every single performance he made that day, but he didn’t want her to get bored, and he would be doing meet and greets after the next few performances.

To his surprise, and some guilt, she was still there during he next performance and again did not come down to meet him with the rest of his fans. The third time he went out she was still there, although this time with food. He didn’t know how she managed to get food or drink in, she must have helped the guards at some point for them to love her enough to let her eat. She left during the third fan meet up, only to return some time later with food and drinks for the guards who were very happy to see her and shared a bite of food with her. Bribery. That’s how she was able to bring food in. As he went backstage to prepare for the final performance that evening he saw her stubbornly sitting in her seat, determined to see this through to the end.

He expected after all that waiting she would be backstage in a matter of minutes after the performance ended. Security already loved her so he had no doubt she’d be able to walk right in. But he didn’t see her come in even though he tried to keep an eye on the door. A fan who waits this long for a personal audience with him deserved to talk to him after all, right? That was totally why he was waiting expectantly, glancing at the door every few moments between unwinding from the show. Luckily there was food after all those performances, meeting his fans made it difficult for him to eat much food between shows.

After what seemed like an eternity of staring at the door while trying to shovel food into his mouth to appease his starving stomach he finally sighed in defeat and looked away. The models were go over notes, grabbing a bite to eat like him, or in the process of leaving for the night. Franziska Ironsaddle, on the other hand, was talking adamantly to a girl that she looked at fondly and Raptor choked on his sandwich. How did she get in without him noticing? And more importantly, how was he going to clear his throat before she noticed him coughing like an idiot.

“OH-!” she noticed. And promptly ran over to him and hugged him from behind, giving his lower diaphragm a solid thump.

“Are you ok? Just try to breath for a minute,” she asked as she let go and rubbed his back while he panted. Raptor hoped wasn’t as red in the face as he thought he was. He coughed again and rubbed his throat before he looked at her, trying to think of something witty to regain his composure and not look dumb.

“Guess you’ve helped me now too,” was the best he could come up with, but she smiled and nodded.

“I’m good!” he said louder and waved to those around to let them know he was fine. They returned to what they were doing and the girl gave him another pat on the back and a smile before she turned away.

“Whoa wait!” he didn’t understand why she was leaving already but his words stopped her.

“Yes?” she looked confused.

“What, now that you’ve saved me it’s time for you to leave? After waiting around for hours?” he couldn’t be sure in the lighting but he thought he saw a blush on her face.

“Ah, well… you know me, always helping people! My work is never done!” she gave a shrug, trying to be playful.

“So what, your helping senses were tingling and you knew I would need help so you waited around until I did?” she grinned at that suggestion and nodded.

“Yup!” she chirped, rolling from her heels to her toes. He couldn’t help but smile at her. He began to think that maybe she was shy and that was why she hadn’t approached earlier.

“Do I at least get to know my savior’s name?” he matched her playfulness. It was oddly natural.

“Rebecca,” she smiled before adding hastily, “and you’re Raptor! I didn’t forget who you were this time!” He couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Rebecca. I’m glad you were able to catch my show! How did you like it?” he hoped asking questions would keep the conversation going, he didn’t want her to disappear again.

“Several, as a matter of fact,” she said with a snort, “but I did enjoy it. Especially the new song.”

“Don’t like ‘Hey Yo’?” he teased and she shook her head, definitely blushing.

“Oh it isn’t that! ‘Hey Yo’ is a stupidly catchy song and I enjoy it! But the lyrics, ah…” she tried to figure out the best word to explain what she meant without offending him but he nodded with a grin.

“They aren’t mind blowing,” he filled in for her and she nodded, rubbing the back of her neck.

“At least they’re easy to remember? You don’t forget them?” she tried to offer consolation and he shrugged and nodded. She definitely wasn’t wrong.

“Anyway ‘Hey Yo’ is a good song, but the new one you’ve got… it had more soul, if that makes sense,” she tried to explain.

“Course it does! I was involved in writing it!” he was beaming with pride.

“Oh? Are you suggesting you didn’t write ‘Hey Yo’?” she teased and he nodded.

“That was a song my manager wanted me to start with. It wasn’t my lyrics,” he explained even though he could tell she was teasing.

“Can you actually call two words lyrics? It’s just the title over and over after all…” her pondering made him think before he smirked.

“I’ve seen lyric videos for it before,” he was glad that got a giggle from her.

“Well anyway, I figured I’d let you know I did see your show since you mentioned it last time we met,” she turned to why she had come in the first place and waited so long.

“I’m glad you were able to see it, and that you enjoyed it! And that you came to tell me yourself,” he didn’t mean for the last part to be quieter as though it was somehow more personal. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, studying him.

“Diggin’ the view?” he teased although he found himself feeling self conscious under her critical gaze.

“You’re different. Who you are backstage is different from what you are onstage,” she observed. He balked slightly, not sure why that observation surprised him so. He knew he was playing a specific role in front of the fans, but he didn’t realize it was so obvious.

“What do you mean?” he tried to play it off but was curious what had tipped her off.

“Your speech, how you carry yourself, your ability to focus,” she listed, but it was the last one that confused him the most.

“Focus?”

“Perhaps that isn’t one of them. But when you were talking to fans you were looking all over the place, probably trying to look and connect with as many of them as possible. Back here you are focused on one thing at a time. First the door, then your food, now me,” she explained and he was unsure where she was going with this.

“I’m just making an observation, don’t mind me,” she waved her hand as though to dismiss her words, “I should probably get going anyway, it is very late after all.”

“Yea,” he managed to say as he thought about what she had said and glanced at the clock.

“Oh yea, it is late,” he said when he saw just how late it had gotten.

“Well, it was good to see you again, Raptor. I suppose I’ll see you next time you come to the mall,” she smiled as she bid farewell and stepped away.

“No!” he practically shouted, making her stop and blink.

“Are you not going to perform at the mall anymore?” she rose an eyebrow when he gulped and turned red.

“No, I probably will, but I don’t know when that’ll be or if my schedule will let me see anyone outside of scheduled fan meet ups,” he stumbled through his words, not entirely sure what the point was but he noticed the corner of her mouth twitch up.

“Do you miss all your fans this much? Or am I just special?” she joked, amused when he glanced away, definitely blushing.

“Would you like my number?” she asked suddenly and he stared at her, unaware that his mouth was open for a moment like a fool.

“You have a phone?”

“I may not have a computer or a radio or a place to live but I do have a phone,” she explained with a grin at how dumbstruck he was by such a silly thing.

“Right! Duh!” he sputtered, losing all the cool he thought he had.

“I’ll take that as a no for my number…” her grin became a smirk and he shook his head.

“No! I’d love your number! If you want to give me your number I’ll give you my person cell. Just… don’t give it out to the entire. I don’t want to have to change numbers again,” he pulled out his phone and she pulled out hers. He noticed hers was definitely picked for endurance. While smart phones had many perks, durability was not one of them, especially since she apparently spent most nights roughing it.

With that exchange they smiled and parted ways, and it wasn’t until Raptor was resting in bed at the end of the long day that he realized what had happened.

He had given his number to someone, and he now had hers. With that realization in his mind he sat up straight in bed and stared at his phone where it was charging. Would she text? Should he text her?

With a groan he rubbed his face. No, he shouldn’t text her. Social image was very important to his persona, if he was going to be doing anything that might possibly end in a romantic relationship he’d need to plan it out very carefully. Not to mention talk it over with his manager, Mr. Bigcake would throw a fit if he didn’t have any warning before the media storm broke, as it inevitably would, should Raptor have someone who might be remotely misconstrued as his girlfriend.

Flopping back into the soft mattress he sighed and wondered about what she had said. Was she special to him? Did he really act so differently around her? Even when he had personal meetings with fans he was still Raptor, loud and proud. But she was right, he didn’t use the exaggerated language he did in front of fans and cameras, he didn’t pose or try to give the cameras his best angle. It seemed silly to him that such a thing was possible. Perhaps it was because she had not known who he was, she just saw him as another person the first few times they spoke. Whatever the reason was, he was going to have to do a lot of soul searching before he figured out what to do next.


	92. Anonymous asked: crazy but rebecca and thomas moorland for 'untied'

“I’m glad you’re here,” Thomas Moorland admitted when Rebecca stepped into his office and closed the door.

“You asked me to come, why wouldn’t I?” she didn’t understand why he had called her, all he had said was that he needed to speak with her at her earliest convenience.

“You always try to help others, thank you for that. I find that I am… lonely. I don’t have anyone to talk to about… Justin,” Mr. Moorland admitted with a pink face and a hand on the back of his neck.

“Surely there is someone around who you can’t talk with?” Rebecca didn’t understand why he couldn’t confide in his older friends.

“They don’t know or understand the situation like you do, and I don’t want to make the circumstances common knowledge,” she nodded and could understand that desire he had.

“Please, do you have any news of Justin?” he continued, begging her for any sort of relief she could offer.

“He’s still with Mr. Sands on the Dark Core platform out at sea,” she wished she had more information to tell him but he perked up, apparently not knowing all those details.

“So you do know where he is?” there was hope in his eyes and he took a step toward Rebecca.

“Well, yes…” she answered hesitantly, not surprised when he took hold of her arms with a smile on his face.

“Then you can go get him! Bring him back to me!” Thomas Moorland implored, looking happier than she had seen him since Justin left.

“I can’t-“ his hands on her arms tightened, “Mr. Sands is keeping it clean, Justin is there by his own free will. If I go get him I’ll be kidnapping him.”

“No! Justin would never choose stay with that monster! They must be blackmailing him or did something to him or lying to him or-“ Rebecca felt a wave of guilt as Mr. Moorland tried to keep it together, shaking and fighting back tears.

“Justin will snap out of it, he will realize that his grandfather’s plans are evil,” she tried to reassure him as the knot of fear and pain inside Mr. Moorland threatened to untie into a mess right in front of her. Not sure what else to do she hugged the man and he hugged her back fiercely, almost crushing her.

“I miss him too. I will bring him home, I promise, Mr. Moorland,” she whispered to him. He heaved at her words, the emotions inside of him unraveling as he began to sob. She rubbed his back as he cried, shushing and murmuring to him to try to help in any way she could.

“Thomas,” he muttered as he recovered.

“What?”

“Mr. Moorland is too formal, call me Thomas, or Tom,” he requested and felt her nod her head.

“Alright, Thomas,” he didn’t realize how good hearing her say his name would sound until that moment.


	93. Anonymous asked: 6. Gentle and the Jester

“Shhh… the Great Ydris isn’t looking,” The Fool murmured to the grey horse in the cage. The pegasus snorted with ears pinned back but took a step forward. The small clown was gentle, more so than the wizard. Ydris wasn’t necessarily cruel, but the tall wizard wasn’t necessarily kind either. The Jester offered a handful of fresh grass from the field, the horse had watched him tear it from the ground not a few moments before.

“Pretty horse likes green food,” the small man cooed as the horse lipped the food from his hand. Had the horse been in the mood to speak to The Fool he would have agreed. Fresh grass was a special treat these days being cooped up in a cage. The worst part was he could see and smell all the grass around him, all the delicious food he could not have.

“Jester?” a voice made the little man jump and drop the rest of the grass in the cage as he spun and looked for the source of the sound. The winged horse ate up the rest of the grass quickly as he looked at the familiar horse and rider. Midnightwarrior’s ears were pricked on Concorde but he said nothing as his rider paid more attention to The Jester.

“Shh, feeding the horse!” the wizard’s assistant begged with his tone that she keep quiet and not attract the wizard’s attention. Rebecca looked at the empty cage for a moment, not understanding, before she shrugged and nodded. No point arguing over the fact that there was nothing she could see in the cage as Ydris had already made comments about how she couldn’t see the animals inside. The Jester sighed in relief as Rebecca continued on her way over to Ydris, not giving him a second thought.


	94. Anonymous asked: 10. Bad hair day - Linda

“How do you do it?” Linda asked Anne after a ride at the stables. Anne made a humming noise, not understanding the question.

“Do what?” Anne asked as they walked Meteor and Concorde to the stables.

“Keep your hair perfect while you ride?” Linda tried to run a hand through her hair but knew it was a total mess whereas Anne’s hair only had a few strands out of place that was barely noticeable.

“Oh please! I have bad hair days like everyone else!” Anne still didn’t quite understand until Linda huffed and pointed at the tangled mass on her head. Anne tried to hide an amused smile before she coughed and recovered.

“Maybe it is our helmets? Yours may be rubbing your hair into a tangle?” Anne suggested and Linda thought about it for a moment.

“Maybe…” she conceded, going quiet as they groomed their horses and put them back in their stalls.

“It might also just be our hair is different. Mine in naturally thin and straight, whereas yours, well,” Anne wasn’t sure how to put it but Linda smiled good-naturedly.

“Mine likes to curl and coil. I suppose it doesn’t really take much to make it a mess,” Linda admitted before she continued, “I just get annoyed seeing how nice your hair, and the other girls’ hair, stay after riding and then mine just…” she motioned her hair exploding before she sighed.

“It’s a petty thing to get upset over, I’m sorry,” Linda apologized but Anne shook her head and put a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“I use hair spray to keep my hair perfect, Alex keeps her beanie on so you can’t see how tangled her hair gets, and Lisa’s hair, well… Lisa’s hair is a hedgehog, I can never tell if she has brushed it or not. It’s supposed to look messy I think?” Linda laughed at Anne’s explanation of the hair of their friend group, but she did feel a little better.

“I suppose it makes sense the princess of the group would manage to keep her hair perfect…” Linda teased.

“If nothing else at least my appearance remains impeccable! I’d do terribly in the jump ring but at least I’d look good!” Anne declared proudly, knowing her forte was in dressage and not jumping like Linda. Linda laughed again at that, putting an arm around Anne’s and they left Jorvik Stables with their arms linked, joking and talking all the way out.


	95. Anonymous asked: 9. Daydream - Justin

Justin had perched himself on a fence in Moorland, looking up at Jasper’s home. This was a common thing he did, sitting and wondering about his grandfather from afar. He wondered about what his grandfather was like, Justin knew precious little of his family. It made things a bit lonely with just his father most of the time. The Baroness and his father’s side of the family were normally too busy for get togethers or visiting, and Justin found himself daydreaming about what it would be like to have more than one person on Christmas. He got gifts, sure, but that wasn’t the same as having everyone together, laughing and joking and bickering and loving like they did on tv and with other families.

Yet there was his grandfather, someone who would be able to tell him about his mother, but Jasper’s bitterness had ruined any chances of them being a family. He had made it quite clear he wanted nothing to do with Thomas or Justin Moorland. And Justin knew nothing of his grandfather on Thomas’ side, no one liked to talk about it and he couldn’t find any sort of records that might give him any clues.

He wondered, trying not to feel hurt, why everyone besides his father wanted to have nothing to do with him. Had his birth really caused that much pain and hurt?

A car distracted him from his thoughts and he looked at the passing vehicle, remembering with a jolt that there was a newcomer scheduled to come today. His daydreams would have to wait, he had work to do.


	96. Anonymous asked: Linda and Shiver

Linda couldn’t stop shaking.

First it had just been a little shiver, one of those random full body twitches that happen for no clear reason. She had thought nothing of it, readjusted her glasses, and continued on with her work.

There was a particularly fascinating book to read about the various legends of Aideen as well as in depth analysis on the variations on the myths as they evolved and were told by different people. Linda had a dream last night about Aideen, which is what had prompted her to pause in her research to stop Dark Core to learn a bit more about her. Thus far it was all the stuff she already knew, Aideen came to Jorvik on a horse with light and music and brought life to the island. There were slight variations, sometimes Aideen carried a torch, sometimes it was a light floating above her, but nothing that Linda could connect with her dream. Why would she, the seer, have a dream about Aideen if it wasn’t important?

That was when Rebecca had come in to say hello and check in with Linda. There had been nothing new to report on Rebecca’s end, and with Linda not finding anything new the conversation had been short. They had a few moments of small talk, Rebecca asked what Linda was reading now, Linda answered that it was a book on Aideen, and Rebecca offered to pull some more books on Aideen if Linda wanted. Linda had agreed but mentioned she had already pulled all the books she could find, but her search had not been thorough.

The second shudder was after Rebecca had left and Linda looked at the book that Rebecca had managed to find. It wasn’t a book Linda had noticed before, it looked like a very old tome and she was almost afraid to touch it for fear of damaging the pages. Linda tried to open the book only to find that it was sealed shut with symbols on the sides: the four symbols of the Soul Riders. The full body shudder hit when Linda touched the Moon symbol and the book opened. This item was magic, she knew it, how had Rebecca known it was about Aideen without any words or way for her to open it? Unless the girl had simply guessed based on all the symbols that it might had information on Aideen.

The full shaking hit as Linda slowly read the book, too ancient to be written in a modern language she could read and yet it felt like the book was translating itself as she read, the text shimmering and shifting a little just as her eyes reached it. What she was reading was completely different from everything she had known about Aideen’s myth, and she wasn’t sure if she was shivering in fear or in excitement at this new knowledge.

But if what the book was telling her was correct there was a chance Aideen had returned in a mortal form and the druids had to find her.


	97. Anonymous asked: 13. Losing your mind - Loretta

Tan knocked on Loretta’s door, wondering what was going on. She had seen her best friend come back to the stables looking like she had seen a ghost and had went straight up to her room, not hearing a word Tan said as she walked past. On the other side of the door Tan could hear heavy breathing, the kind of ragged panting that usually accompanied someone trying desperately to get enough air.

She knocked again, harder this time, but there was no response. Tan raised her hand to her mouth, softly biting her knuckle as she thought. It was obvious something was wrong with Loretta, but Tan didn’t want to upset Loretta further by going in without Loretta’s permission. But Loretta sounded like she was having a panic attack, and Tan didn’t want to make her friend be alone for that. But would having someone discover her having a panic attack make Loretta’s panic attack worse?

Tan took a deep breath and opened the door, softly calling for her friend as she slipped into the room.  Loretta hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights, but the light from the window lit up the room enough for Tan to see clearly. And what she saw was Loretta sitting on the floor a few feet from her bed, having apparently collapsed before she was able to reach the bed. Tan closed the door and crouched by her friend, Loretta sitting and shaking as she panted.

“I’m losing my mind,” Loretta said, startling Tan. Loretta hadn’t even looked at Tan or acknowledged she was there, so Tan was surprised when Loretta spoke without Tan breaking her out of her trance.

“What do you mean?” Tan sat down across from her friend, Loretta still staring blankly ahead.

“I saw Justin,” Loretta’s voice was strained, like she was trying to stifle her emotions before they reached her tongue and tainted her words.

“That’s great! … Right?” Tan’s momentary excitement was clearly out of place and she felt awkward for even being happy when Loretta was obviously distressed.

“He was getting ice cream, looking like he always does: wonderful and perfect and like he hasn’t been gone for such a long time without even a word to me. With her,” Loretta’s last two words were spat out of her mouth and she glared at Tan in fury.

“He’s been gone, we’ve all been so worried and he has… she has… they have the audacity to just walk around and get ice cream like we haven’t been worried sick over them! Who does she think she is?” Tan balked at Loretta’s intensity before she realized whom Loretta was talking about.

“Rebecca? He was with Rebecca?” Tan demanded, her own angry building up for Loretta’s sake.

“Yes! That thieving-! I told her to stay away from Justin and yet he’s been with her!?”

“Does Mr. Moorland know?” Tan asked and Loretta paused in her rage, a thought occurring to her.

“I don’t think so…” Loretta murmured, a grin twisting onto her face as she looked at Tan conspiringly.

“We should go tell him Justin has been hiding with Rebecca all this time, I’m sure he’d love to know that,” Loretta stood, inspired by this new plot. She was going to do whatever she had to get Justin out of Rebecca’s claws.


	98. Anonymous asked: 14. Teaching - Loretta

Telling Mr. Moorland about Justin’s return had not gone exactly to plan, he was too excited about Justin being back to get upset over the fact that Rebecca had been keeping Justin a secret from his own father.

Lucky for Loretta, the other Bobcat Girls were much more appreciative of her concerns and anger. She knew several of them had a crush on Justin, but they respected their leader like true Bobcat Girls, making Rebecca a rule-breaking outsider. Of course they were wrong to trust her, she was clearly only after Justin from the very start and only become a Bobcat Girl because she had to. It all made sense! They were all more than willing to help Loretta teach Rebecca a lesson.

They’re planning was cut short when Mr. Moorland informed them that if Rebecca and Justin came that they were to send them to him right away, he would be in his office. This was fine with Loretta, she didn’t have an exact plan just yet to make Rebecca pay. But that’s what the Bobcat Girls were for, they would improvise something just as wonderful in the meantime.

They were not at all surprised when Rebecca came alone, Justin nowhere to be seen. The girls smiled fake smiles in return to Rebecca’s waves and hellos, and Julie took the chance to begin mucking. Rebecca dismounted at the stables, not exactly able to take Midnightwarrior inside with her, and was surprised when a load of straw and manure hit her.

“Oh my goodness I am so sorry!” the girl mucking exclaimed, the other girls around snickering and wondering why Julie was being friendly toward Rebecca.

“It happens, don’t worry. It’s not like I haven’t gotten manure on me before,” Rebecca assured at started to clean up but Julie stopped her.

“No it’s my fault! I know Mr. Moorland wants to talk to you, he won’t mind I’m sure, I’ll take care of your horse!” Julie offered.

“Oh, thank you!” Rebecca accepted, pleasantly surprised by Julie not being lazy for once. Rebecca thanked her again and hurried to the office where Mr. Moorland was, and a few of the girls crept closer to Julie and Midnightwarrior.

“So now what?” Sophia asked, grabbing Midnightwarrior by the reins, “send her horse running?”

“We could feed him buttercups,” Julie suggested but Tan shook her head.

“No, we’re mad at Rebecca, not her horse! I don’t think Loretta would want us hurting Midnightwarrior,” Tan interjected before she patted the saddle bags, “we’ve got plenty of other things to mess with!”

Midnightwarrior, not happy with the crowding girls or their tone snorted and tried to step away from them only to be rudely yanked by the mouth into the stable. Julie was nice enough to take off his tack and put him in a stall, but he did not appreciate her trying to pry his shoes lose.

Meanwhile the other girls were rummaging through Rebecca’s stuff, trying to figure out what to do that wouldn’t be too obvious. Dropping her phone in water was an easy thing to do, but not before checking to see if she had a conversation with Justin on her phone. Sophia wasn’t afraid of bugs and made sure that there were plenty of ants in Rebecca’s bag of food while Tan set to work ripping the seams of Rebecca’s clothes.

“What are you guys doing?” they jumped but sighed in relief when they saw Loretta standing there, practically beaming with pride.

“Teaching Rebecca a lesson,” Julie chirped from where she was with Midnightwarrior.

“Well you should probably put everything back, she may be back out soon. But don’t worry, we’ll think of something even better once Justin is back with us,” Loretta assured them, making them hastily return everything to the saddle bags, hoping that Rebecca wouldn’t notice for a while.


	99. Anonymous asked: 17. Darkness falls – Rebecca and Ms. Drake

Darkness was falling by the time Rebecca was leaving Epona. CHILL was no help in getting Herman out anytime soon, and she knew it would take too long for them to trust her to do anything.

So she was going to do something that would no doubt make CHILL distrusted her forever, assuming they had eyes on her.

“Ah, my favorite volunteer,” Ms. Drake grinned when she heard the door of her office open. There was only one person who had the gall to do that without receiving her expressed permission to enter.

“One day you should employ me properly,” Rebecca quipped before her expression fell and she closed to door. Mr. Drake watched her carefully as the young woman came and leaned against the ornate desk. The businesswoman stood and came around to the other side of the desk so she could brush the hair from Rebecca’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Ms. Drake whispered. Their relationship had long surpassed a professional relationship to a much more intimate one, another thing that Rebecca was sure CHILL somehow knew.

“It’s… awkward to explain. I have a favor to ask you: the GED workers found a man trespassing at the Hillcrest site, I need him released,” Rebecca could tell Ms. Drake was shocked by this news. Ms. Drake’s hand fell from Rebecca’s face and she turned hard.

“How do you know about that?” Ms. Drake asked in a low voice.

“That’s the awkward part. I befriended the owner of Jorvik Stables, Mr. Herman, and he decided he could trust me to get him to meet the leader of CHILL. Unfortunately that was straight through Hillcrest and Herman was apprehended, I was able to get out on Midnightwarrior,” Rebecca explained, Ms. Drake relaxing a bit.

“And, why, may I ask, did he decide he could trust you enough to introduce you to the leader of vicious eco terrorists?” Ms. Drake’s voice was measured voice and Rebecca knew she needed to be very careful.

“Well,” Rebecca drawled with a grin growing on her face as she turned her body into Ms. Drake, “I can be very persuasive,” Ms. Drake’s breathing hitched as Rebecca leaned in and spoke right onto Ms. Drake’s lips, “and you know I value my reputation with the locals.”

“I do adore how you manipulate them into loving you,” Ms. Drake hissed before Rebecca kissed her. Rebecca let them get caught up in the act, mouths opening and tongues touching and Rebecca being pushed onto the desk.

“So, Herman?” Rebecca asked when Ms. Drake left her mouth to go for her neck.

“Can’t, darling,” Ms. Drake informed her between nibbles.

“Be easier to get to the leader of CHILL with Herman,” Rebecca tried to persuade the woman sucking on her neck.

“Beyond my jurisdiction, the messages went not just to me but my higher ups. Be suspicious if I let him go without a viable reason for my superiors,” Ms. Drake explained and Rebecca sighed, letting her head rest against the table as she thought.

“What, no more fun now that you’re disappointed?” Ms. Drake grumbled, displeased by Rebecca’s sudden lack of interest.

“Just thinking,” Rebecca muttered, staring at the ceiling in thought.

“About?” was Ms. Drake’s suspicious response.

“If I can’t get Herman out through you I’ll just have to get into CHILL. They know Herman has been captured and they want to rescue him, I just need to get them to trust me so that I can help get out,” Rebecca mused aloud.

“And why is getting this Herman out so important to you?” a sliver of jealous was creeping into Ms. Drake’s voice.

“Because it’ll lead me to CHILL’s leader, if I help them free one of their allies from your evil clutches it’ll no doubt earn me their trust. And I’m sure you’d love any information on them that I could bring back,” Rebecca teased, pleased by Ms. Drake’s eager expression.

“You truly are a schemer after my own black heart,” Ms. Drake sighed happily before letting out a squeal when Rebecca grabbed her face and kissed her.


	100. Anonymous asked: Tree - Anne

“So, you’re the tree that helped Lisa get out of Pandoria,” Anne commented as looked from Concorde’s back at the Sleeping Widow. As expected the tree didn’t answer but Anne continued to study the tree regardless.

“Strange that beings in this world can also be connected to Pandoria,” Concorde mused, sensing Anne’s mental nod in agreement.

“I never thought of Pandoria as a place with physical connections to this world, in a sense where Jorvik and Pandoria are physically bound to each other,” she admitted. This was beyond what she knew of her circle.

“You said Fripp explained Pandoria as a place inside all living beings.”

“That’s what Fripp said, yet here the Weeping Widow is physically close to where Lisa was sent to Pandoria which could mean that locations in Jorvik have corresponding locations in Pandoria, which doesn’t make sense for a dreamscape.”

“Unless it is because of the physical proximities of their bodies? Because they were physically close together they were able to sense each other’s souls when in Pandoria,” Concorde suggested, knowing his princess was getting frustrated.

“Maybe, this is magic we’re dealing with after all,” Anne finally grumbled in defeat.

“So now what, princess?” Concorde asked after letting her think in silence for several minutes.

“We go to Pandoria,” was Anne’s serious response.

“And then?”

“Then we come back, go to another living Primeval Tree, and go to Pandoria near that tree, and repeat until we run out of trees.”

“And what will this do for us?” Concorde wasn’t objecting to this plan at all but he was curious of the goal.

“We might figure out how Jorvik and Pandoria are connected, or we’ll learn different locations in Pandoria where we could find help if we get into trouble,” Anne explained.

“The Sun should know all she can about her domain,” Concorde’s tone was completely serious and Anne smiled at the compliment.

“Come, darling, let’s get started!” Anne declared and together they opened a portal and raced through it.


	101. Anonymous asked: scream with justin and jessica plz!

Justin found himself walking in the night, guilt tearing him up once more. Rebecca had left after the druid ‘trial’ deciding her dangerous and untrustworthy and Justin had not heard or seen her since.

“Don’t they make you want to scream?” Justin jumped at the voice in the darkness, one he was familiar with coming from the shadows.

“What are you doing here?” he tried not to sound scared as he spun around, trying to find the source of the voice.

“Your grandfather did try to warn you, the druids aren’t to be trusted,” he found a darker shadow under a tree, hiding from the moonlight.

“And neither are you. At least the druids didn’t have to brain wash me,” Justin spat as Jessica emerged from the shadows with a smirk.

“And I’m sure you feel so much better with them,” Jessica said with a sarcastic and taunting sneer, knowing he would wince and glance away before he did it.

“What are you doing here, Jessica?” he asked as he looked at the ground in shame, changing the subject.

“We used to talk, Justin, don’t you want to talk now?” she stepped closer to him, not surprised when he stepped away.

“Tricking and brain washing me does not make us friends,” he snarled, glaring at her once more.

“Your grandfather did that to make you obedient, my interest in you was not under anyone’s orders,” Jessica informed him with a straight face and he had a moment of hesitation. Was she genuinely interested in him?

“It was just another way to manipulate me, whether it was for someone else or for you, it’s not like I had much choice being brain washed,” he managed to argue and realized he had stepped back against a tree as she continued to approach.

“True, you were very suggestible at the time, but I don’t like winning that way. I’d much prefer your… interest when you have free will as you do now,” her voice was getting lower in the darkness as the space between them closed and Justin found himself swallowing and breathing heavily.

“So? Now that you are free and can make your own decisions, how do you feel about me now?” he glanced away, hoping the darkness would hide his growing blush that burned his face when she leaned into his ear to whisper: “do you want to make me scream again?”


	102. Anonymous asked: applenight's Bright Rebecca and Lisa?

The first time Lisa saw it was when Rebecca helped her heal the Sleeping Widow. They were on the top of the cliff, listening for Aideen’s song on the wind so Lisa could learn it. She happened to look at Rebecca and caught of glimpse of someone else, someone bright and burning. But in the next moment it was Rebecca once more, human and normal and not shining like a star.

Curious, Lisa risked a glance at Rebecca as they rode over the water, the harp in Lisa’s hand and the fragment of light in Rebecca’s. But once more she saw someone who wasn’t Rebecca as if the light from the fragment had spread through Rebecca’s entire form and transformed her into something else. A blink later and it was once more Rebecca and Midnightwarrior next to her, helping her grow the roots through the water.

The third time Lisa happened to see Rebecca measuring Pandoric activity in the rune stones, and this time she made sure to pay attention to Midnightwarrior. She was surprised, yet totally understood, when the dark horse suddenly flared into a being of light as Rebecca worked. Neither the horse nor rider noticed and Lisa couldn’t understand what Rebecca was or what she was seeing. Linda was the one who had sight and no one had mentioned this to Lisa before, but she couldn’t believe that no one else had seen it. There was something about Rebecca that was very different, but Lisa could not fathom what could possibly be the cause. The mystery made Lisa develop a bad habit of following Rebecca to get a glance at that bright thing inside of her.

The strangeness was only made worse by her friends not knowing what she was talking about, neither Linda nor Alex had seen what Lisa described. When she asked Elizabeth and Avalon what it could be they had no answer for her and dismissed it when Lisa admitted she was the only one who had seen it. The best guess they had to offer was Lisa was getting a glimpse at Rebecca’s aura, as Derek’s camera was able to reveal the core essence of a person. All of them had bright light around them, Avalon told her, as they were all pure and fighting for the light.

Lisa stopped telling people when Linda and Alex began smirking whenever Lisa mentioned it, or even mentioned Rebecca. They seemed to be under the impression that Lisa’s obsession and near stalking of Rebecca was a result of an infatuation, and of course no argument was going to change their minds. She tried to forget about it, she tried not to dwell on thoughts of Rebecca, but she found herself acting much like a moth. Lisa might be the Star, but there was something much more intense about Rebecca that she found herself drawn to. She wanted to see the light again, she wanted to be closer to Rebecca when she saw it, she wanted to see if she could touch it, feel it, for herself.  

And the fact that she found herself blushing bright red when she joined Rebecca on patrols was totally a coincidence.


	103. Anonymous asked: Anne and Sabine "No Regrets"

Anne and Sabine were absolutely silent, breaths held as if that would help them remain undiscovered in the room of the mansion. They could hear the party continuing below them, and with practiced ease they had both managed to slip away without anyone noticing them gone. They didn’t look at each other, backs pressed against the door as they stood side by side, waiting. In the darkness of the room Sabine felt first a pinkie and then the rest of a hand brush against hers.

“I think we’re good,” Anne whispered, grins breaking out on their faces as they tried to tiptoe and run at the same time to Anne’s balcony.

“Got the stuff?” Sabine murmured, pleased when Anne offered Sabine pants and boots that were easier to move in than their gala dresses. They glanced at each other as they stripped and changed as quickly as possible, exchanging smirks at each other as they left their dresses in a pile. It was a cloudy night and it was hard to see, but they both knew the vines that crawled up the side of Anne’s balcony well enough to climb blindfolded.

“Ever wonder where poor people go to get away from responsibilities?” Sabine asked once they were on the very top of Anne’s mansion, both of them sitting comfortably together.

“Surely even poor people have roofs to climb on,” Anne thought, “what responsibilities would they even have? They don’t have appearances to keep up or annoying galas and ‘family friends’ to entertain or any sort of family business to inherit.”

“Father says his employees have stress outside of work. It diminishes their work performance, he hates it and fires them if it gets too bad,” Sabine shrugged and Anne snorted.

“How unprofessional, they should know better than to bring their personal issues into the work place!” Anne scoffed and Sabine nodded in agreement before she smirked.

“Ever feel bad about sneaking up here with me?” Sabine asked in a teasing voice but Anne knew Sabine well enough to know she was concerned about Anne’s response.

“No regrets, our lives are so boring! We have to do something crazy now and then!” Anne reassured her friend and Sabine smiled.

“Well, we could go wear some thrift store clothes and wander around homeless for a few days,” Sabine suggested, laughing at Anne’s appalled face.

“I said crazy, not stupid! Not to mention undignified!” Anne’s alarm made Sabine’s teasing all the more hilarious, and Anne smiled after a moment of looking horrified. She knew Sabine would never lower herself to such a level.

“Oh, speaking of undignified I was almost hit by some moron driving when I was on my evening ride with Concorde,” Anne remembered suddenly and got Sabine’s attention. “He must be new to not know that I always go for an evening ride on that road, and he had this dork with him. I had a terrible feeling we’ll see her tomorrow, you won’t be able to miss her. She has this stupid spikey red hair, like some fiery hedgehog lives on her head.” Sabine’s face went blank when Anne described the girl she had seen and Anne wondered what had caused such a reaction in Sabine.

“Well,” a mean smirk curled on Sabine’s lips, “I’ll have fun with her.”

“She won’t even know what she did to incur your wrath!” Anne wasn’t really protesting, but she knew Sabine could be nasty when she wanted to be.

“Her idiot father could have killed you,” Sabine went completely serious, grabbing Anne’s arms in a rare show of concern and worry that made Anne smile.

“But I’m fine,” Anne whispered, leaning closer to Sabine.

“Will… you ever regret me?” Anne asked without warning, hesitating.

“I live with no regrets, no matter what happened or what I do,” Sabine’s voice was low and rough and Anne didn’t hesitate again when Sabine touched her face and drew her in.


	104. Anonymous asked: if your still doing writing prompts Evil with Justin please?

“Evil” is such a harsh word. It is a word used by simpletons who believe the world is black and white, as if life can be simplified to two clear-cut categories. Justin’s grandfather has talked with him long and hard about it, helping Justin to understand the importance of their work. And the more Justin learned about Dark Core and the Druids the more he understood where his grandfather was coming from. The Druids called them evil because they didn’t understand, because they used different methods. While there were some intelligent druids who simply had different ideological views most were thoughtless fools.

And Justin was no fool.

Sure there were some things that Dark Core did that would make weaker minds cringe, but Justin was strong and adjusted quickly. His grandfather praised him for his quick learning and adapting, and it made Justin all the more eager to please. Justin was not going to disappoint, failure was the closest thing one could come to ‘evil.’ 


	105. Anonymous asked: Dancing w/Rebecca and Loretta?

Loretta thought that going to the disco would help her take her mind off things. Justin had been gone for weeks now and no one would tell her where he had gone. If she didn’t know better Justin was actually missing, but she would have heard about a police report or there would have been posters up. It was as if Justin had simply ceased to exist.

The disco wasn’t helping and Loretta found herself standing against the wall, looking at everyone else dancing. She just couldn’t relax and get her mind off Justin and she found herself scanning the crowd for him. Instead she found Rebecca standing against the opposite wall with a distant expression. The Bobcat glared at the new girl, feeling an irrational rage as if Rebecca had something to do with Justin being gone.

Rebecca must have noticed the heated gaze on her because she blinked and looked directly at Loretta, staring at her blankly for several moments. Loretta pouted and glared at the floor, desperate to ignore the feeling that Rebecca was walking over to her.

“I’m surprised you aren’t dancing,” Loretta closed her eyes and grimaced when she heard Rebecca speaking over the music.

“I don’t see you dancing,” she shot back at Rebecca who seemed completely unbothered by the out lash.

“Probably for the same reason as you,” Rebecca responded easily and Loretta was startled to feel Rebecca’s hand on hers.

“I think we both need a distraction,” Rebecca continued when Loretta looked at her in confusion. But Loretta didn’t stop Rebecca from touching her hand, and she didn’t pull away when Rebecca’s fingers linked with hers. In what felt like a surreal mist of people and music Loretta found herself dancing with Rebecca, one moment not touching as they danced together and the next moment in a close embrace feeling Rebecca’s breath on her. The strangeness of it all made the thoughts of Justin ebb away, replaced by a new tide filled with thoughts of Rebecca and dancing.


	106. Anonymous asked: broken with Rebecca and Ms. Drake

“Ms. Drake?” Rebecca entered the office without knocking, she was the only one who could do that, but was confused by the apparent emptiness of the office. At this time of day Ms. Drake was either outside or in her office, but Rebecca hadn’t seen her anywhere. What she did see was a messy desk and large papers on the floor, very uncharacteristic of Ms. Drake. When Rebecca noticed the shoe by the desk she walked around to the other side and looked, finding a terrified Ms. Drake. She was grimacing, her eyes wide and her make up smeared from tears, and Rebecca had never seen her look so broken and scared.

“They’ll come for me next, Rebecca,” Ms. Drake mumbled, rocking back and forth under her desk.

“What are you talking about?” Rebecca tried to understand but Ms. Drake started laughing instead.

“I failed! They told me there were promising minerals here but I can’t find them! Drakonium, HA! The fools made it somehow, it isn’t real, they just were desperate to not be fired so they came up with fake results and now we’re all going to be punished for failure!” Ms. Drake wept, shaking her head and pulling away from Rebecca when the younger woman tried to hold the older woman.

“But it isn’t your fault you were assigned here! GED found samples and assigned you here!”

“Doesn’t matter! Doesn’t matter! I couldn’t get results and so many things have gotten in my way, from incompetence to those CHILL terrorists! And no one is doing what they are suppose to! Bribes and blackmail don’t work here and I don’t understand! Why is this place cursed!? Don’t the locals understand they can’t stop GED?” Ms. Drake grew increasingly hysterical but had stopped resisting Rebecca’s advances and finally dissolved in a puddle of sobbing as she mumbled incoherently in Rebecca’s arms.

Rebecca wasn’t sure what to do or what to say. She knew GED was up to no good and did not want them to have a foothold in Jorvik, but she hadn’t realized just how much her sabotage was hurting Ms. Drake. The business woman wasn’t some towering figure of fear, she was just as terrified of her superiors as the average workers were afraid of her. Rebecca now understood why Ms. Drake was as ruthless as she was, she was just as trapped and broken as everyone else in GED’s grip.


	107. Anonymous asked: Rebecca and Loretta with the prompt "strong" ?

“Don’t you miss him?” Loretta asked suddenly. Rebecca waited a moment before looking at Loretta. They had left the disco and now rested on the beach, looking up at the stars together.

“Of course I miss him. But he’ll come back, and I didn’t know him near as long as you,” Rebecca offered, trying to make Loretta feel better somehow.

“You always seem so strong and happy, it’s like you don’t even care that he is gone. Where is he?” Loretta turned and looked at Rebecca. There was silence, the wind and waves the only sound for several long moments and Loretta slowly sat up, staring at Rebecca.

“You know where he is,” Loretta’s tone was measured, controlled, trying not to be outright enraged. Rebecca took in a deep breath and sighed.

“I’m… it’s complicated. I think I’m sworn to secrecy but I’m not really sure?”

“HOW CAN YOU NOT BE SURE ABOUT THAT?!”

“There are just a lot of things that are really complicated involving Justin that I can’t really tell people,” Rebecca shrugged, trying to play it cool despite how awkward this was now.

“I’m his best friend, I deserve to know where he is and why he isn’t with me!” Loretta protested, her volume lowered just a bit.

“It’s kinda like a family embarrassment thing… He’s with his grandfather,” Rebecca tried to figured out how to explain it without explaining everything.

“Old Man Jasper?”

“No, his grandfather on his dad’s side,” that answer made Loretta pause and think long and hard.

“I didn’t realize his paternal grandfather was even alive…”

“Neither did he, apparently his father wanted it that way.”

“Well, who is he? The grandfather? What’s so complicated about it?” Loretta continued asking questions, trying to understand.

“His grandfather is the owner of Dark Core.”

“Oh,” was the only word Loretta could think of saying. She knew Dark Core was super creepy and had a site near Moorland, she always tried to stay away from them. Dark Core employees regularly damaged property and stole things around the stables but they could never prove it. She wondered if the grandfather wanted to take over Moorland, like Kembell tried to do. The Dark Core beach site never did anything after all; they were just always loading and unloading but mostly just stood around looking creepy. It was like they were all robots waiting for some signal before doing something.

“Is Justin alright?” Loretta finally asked.

“Yes, he is safe. I think what he is doing joining Dark Core is stupid, but he made that decision on his own,” Rebecca decided to omit the part about mind control. That was a can of worms that she didn’t want to open or explain to Loretta.

“I just hope he comes back soon,” Loretta quietly admitted after much thought. She felt so strongly for him, she just wanted Justin to be happy. Ideally happy with her, and she knew him, he was happiest when he was at the stables with her. But maybe this was just something he needed to do, some sort of self-discovery thing by finding out more about his family.


	108. Anonymous asked: Halloween with Anne please?

“That’s a dumb idea,” Alex rejected immediately.

“It’ll be fun! And we’ll look super adorable!” Anne protested, pouting and trying to convince Alex.

“It’s dorky, but I think it’s still a good idea! It’s either that or coming up with something else in time for Halloween,” Lisa sided with Anne on this, much to Alex’s surprise.

“I can pull up some goddess references for us to use for costume ideas!” Linda added, excited by the idea of using her vast knowledge and library expertise for a Halloween party.

“It’s Halloween! We should do something spooky like the Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse!” Alex tried to convince them but they looked at her strangely.

“We save the world, why would we dress up as the harbingers of the end of the world?” Lisa asked with an eyebrow raised.

“… irony?” was the only valid argument Alex could come up with on the spot.

“I don’t see why you are so against this, Alex! I thought you’d enjoy the idea of dressing up as Lightning!” Anne did not understand when Alex threw her a glare.

“What am I supposed to do, show up in some bright yellow lighting bolt?” Alex demanded angrily and Anne stared at her for a moment.

“Do you honestly think I’d show up in some blow up sun?” Anne’s deadpan response made Lisa and Linda giggle and Alex blushed.

“I…” well no of course not, Alex thought to herself, Anne would be sure to look impeccable even if it was for a costume party. But she couldn’t bring herself to say that.

“I was thinking we’d go more for goddesses of our circles or something, so while you might have lightning bolts on you, you won’t be dressed as a lightning bolt,” Anne explained, finally understanding Alex’s reluctance.

“Here,” Anne pulled out her phone and pulled up some images she had saved for inspiration, “this is something I was looking at for myself as The Sun.” Alex took the phone to inspect the picture better, Lisa and Linda leaning in behind her. The image Anne had up was of a mannequin wearing a sort of halo headdress that looked like one of those super pointy suns in old paintings. The dress started pure white at the top and transitioned from white to yellow, orange, and then red in the train. Add in gold jewelry and Alex could see how Anne would look like the Sun with that outfit.

“So… do you have ideas for the rest of us?” Alex asked sheepishly, blushing when Anne grinned and took back her phone to show them her ideas.


	109. Anonymous asked: Shadows with Rebecca and Sabine?

Rebecca saw her sometimes when she rode at night. A glimpse of red and fire in the forest just out of the corner of her eye but when she looked it was just the shadows cast by moonlight. Perhaps her mind was taunting her for her failure to see Sabine for the monster she was until it was too late. Or, as her more paranoid side thought, maybe it really was Sabine stalking her in the night.

It had to be anxiety, or perhaps stress, making Rebecca see red in the darkness. It seemed every time Rebecca went to Dark Core the shadow following her crept closer. First the distance of the forest, then the nearness in the stable, and finally the closeness of Rebecca’s bed. Whether it was an open field or in an inn, Rebecca continued to have the feeling that someone was inching ever closer to her when night fell.

Midnightwarrior didn’t warn her that someone was close to her, but Rebecca feared he was picking up on her emotions. He was antsy at night, his gallop just a bit frantic when the sun disappeared; he grazed closer and closer to her when she slept at night.

“Hello,” the voice startled Rebecca awake and her jerk made Midnightwarrior snort and throw his head, ready for danger. But as she looked around there was no one there, but she knew Sabine was somehow close to her. Was it the mind powers that she had heard about? Was Sabine able to get into her thoughts or dreams to make her paranoid? Midnightwarrior snorted and nuzzled Rebecca after he had paced around her in a protective circle. She had the strangest feeling he was trying to comfort himself just as much as he was trying to comfort his rider.

She decided she would ask Linda and the Druids about what Sabine was capable of to make sure she wasn’t truly in danger.


	110. Anonymous asked: Justin Moorland and Rebecca romance short story?

Justin watched Rebecca from the door of the room she was staying in, gathering up the courage to go in and talk to her. So much had happened, they’d been through a literal war together, yet he still got butterflies when he thought about being alone with her. Especially in what was currently her room.

He knew what she was doing even if he couldn’t see what she was looking at. The desk in front of her had a paper application to the Jorvik Equine Institute, the reason she had come to Jorvik. It felt like eons ago when he had met her at Moorland for her first day, she had been quiet and nervous and terribly shy. He thought she would be just another prospective hoping to bond with a horse, maybe win some competitions, and then either return home at the end of the summer or be accepted into their dream school. There were countless others like that, young men and women who either succeed and went on to JEI or failed to be accepted and left. Others were here merely for summer programs and had no intention of staying longer.

But Rebecca hadn’t been another person in a program, she wasn’t one of literally thousands that came through Jorvik for a brief time. She had become a dear friend, someone Justin loved and owed his existence to. The shy young woman he had met on the first day had become a powerful force of nature who had saved the world and only a handful of people knew it.

The sound of her tapping pen echoed into the hall from her room, Justin decided she was mulling over her thoughts. They had barely talked about what would happen after everything was over, and now that it was he didn’t know what she wanted to do. She had come to go to school, but he was afraid she no longer wanted to stay. Jorvik held horrible memories for her now, perhaps she would want to return home and never return. That thought made the butterflies in his stomach gnaw at his stomach like staring rats. He didn’t want her to leave.

“You can come in you know,” her voice startled him and he blushed, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, knowing full well what she was looking at.

“I don’t know,” she let her head drop to the desk in an exasperated plop, and he approached and looked over her shoulder. The forms were completely filled out except for her signature.

“JEI? I thought you wanted to go there?” Justin started, trying to not sound like he was worried she might not.

“I know, that’s why I came here,” she sighed and rolled her head to the side so she wasn’t talking into her desk anymore, “but now I don’t know if I want to go to school.”

“What would you do instead?”

“I don’t know, but there is so much we don’t know, about magic and Aideen and Garnok and Jorvik. Dark Core may have agents elsewhere, or they might come back, and I don’t want to be worrying about a midterm if the world is about to end.”

“Would you prefer to sit around and wait for something bad to happen?” he leaned on the desk to get more comfortable. Rebecca sat back up and slumped down into her chair.

“Well no, but I figured I’d be out looking for bad things so I could stop them. There is still a lot to do and learn, and I have horses to look after. I can’t just go home, but if I go to school I have to figure out where to keep Midnight and Sun and the rest. I won’t be able to bring all of them with me,” she explained in a manner that felt more like she was merely voicing her thoughts out loud and he happened to be present to hear them.

“Do you want to go home?”

“I want to see my family again, but I don’t want to stay home forever.”

“Do you want to go to college?”

“Not really.”

“Then why don’t you stay here? Visit home, but live in Jorvik?”

“But what would I do? Sure bouncing around from stable to stable has been fine for the summer, but I am starting to miss having a stable roof over my head,” his poorly concealed grin made her groan, “and no I didn’t mean to make that pun.”

“Well I guess you’re just gonna have to find a place to live,” he suggested while trying not to be obvious.

“It’s expensive enough just making sure my horses are boarded, I don’t know how I’d afford to rent a place for myself, make sure my horses are boarded, travel to make sure Dark Core doesn’t have any nasty surprised hidden around, and maintain a job to make sure it is all paid. Selling the horses would cut back on expenses but I’d never be able to get rid of Midnightwarrior… plus there is all the legal stuff since I’m not even a Jorvik citizen I’m a foreigner so I can only imagine the amount of paperwork and visa changes I’d need and-“

“Rebecca,” Justin interrupted her as she started rambling, his hand on her cheek to turn her face up to him.

“Everyone on Jorvik owes you a debt and they know it. Do you really think the druids would let you go without a place to live? Or my family for that matter?” his calm words made her glance away.

“But I don’t want to burden people, and I don’t want people to help me out because they feel like they owe me something, and-“

“Rebecca. Stay. Please,” she looked up at him again at that earnest request, not surprised when she saw how red his cheeks were. All this time and still so embarrassed around her. She mirrored him, touching his face and gently pulling him into her lips.

“You’ll stay?” he murmured against her lips.

“I’ll stay,” she answered, pulling him into a deeper kiss, the paperwork forgotten.


	111. Anonymous asked: Chased with Rebecca and Sabine

Damn it not again. This shouldn’t have happened, Sabine shouldn’t have been able to get past the Druids’ defenses and yet somehow she had managed it and was now running like a bat returning to hell. Rebecca didn’t even know yet what Sabine had stolen, she had just heard screaming from Elizabeth’s house and saw Sabine and Khan take off into the woods with a bag. She hadn’t bothered to stop and ask if Sabine had gotten anything valuable, time was of the essence and Rebecca was not about to lose the Red Rider.

The burning prints led up toward the Observatory and Rebecca was shocked to see Sabine standing on the switchback, waiting for her.

“Give whatever you took back!” Rebecca demanded, hoping her Fragment of Aideen’s Light had enough of a charge to scare Sabine.

“I will, but first I want to talk,” Sabine called from under the hood, holding the bag loosely in her hand.

“If you want to surrender then I accept,” Rebecca smirked but had her hand in her saddle bag, feeling for the Fragment.

“I was going to tell you something similar. We’re being merciful here, and giving you a chance to leave Jorvik. We’ll even throw in a bonus and cover for your horse to leave as well,” Sabine’s offer took Rebecca off guard.

“And why would you do that?”

“You don’t belong here, that’s obvious. You’re just an errand girl for the druids, you can’t use magic, you can’t talk to your horse, you’re clearly not a soul rider. The druids got you involved in a conflict that isn’t even concerning you,” Rebecca grit her teeth but tried not to show the hurt. How did Sabine know that? Was it the Dark Riders’ magic letting them sense if Rebecca could use magic? Did they have spies watching her and the druids?

“That’s awfully generous of Dark Core, I didn’t think they’d try so hard to get rid of someone who isn’t a threat to them,” Rebecca smirked and added, “or are you really that afraid of me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Our enemies are the Keepers of Aideen, not the stable girls they get roped into doing their bidding,” Sabine scoffed and Rebecca shook her head.

“I think you guys see me as a threat, so I think I’ll stay right here,” was Rebecca’s answer.

“Your mother’s name is Catherine,” Sabine said suddenly.

“What?

“And your father is Thomas. You have two older sisters-“

“How- what are you trying to do?”

“-who are both married. Your mother spends her days gardening at public places like the library and church, as well as tutoring and packing lunches for poor children-“ Midnightwarrior launched forward and Khan retreated a few steps up the mountain.

“What is the point of this?” Rebecca demanded, feeling sick.

“I’m just saying, it’s been a while since you’ve seen your family, it’d be a shame if you didn’t see them again,” Sabine extended her hand and tossed the bag down the mountainside.

“I’ll let you reconsider the offer, do let me know what you decide,” Sabine called back to Rebecca as she continued up the mountain at a lazy canter, knowing Rebecca would have to go down for the bag and not chase her.

Rebecca didn’t move for a long while, thinking hard. Midnightwarrior tossed his head and stomped his foot multiple times, trying to get his rider’s attention.

“I know, I can’t go home, but I can’t let my family get hurt because of a war they don’t even know about,” Rebecca finally said, dropping her hands into her lap so they rested on the saddle. Midnightwarrior took the cue to move on his own and he turned, taking them down the trail to find and retrieve the bag.


	112. anna-bravewood asked: So saw this post abigail-swiftpaw-sso. tumblr. com/post/139868631616/luna-swiftlord-nooooo and like, can you write something on Catherine and Justin?

Catherine leaned forward and smelled the candle burning. It was a vanilla candle that reminded her of a delicious vanilla frosting she had made earlier that day for a birthday cake a customer had requested. The candle itself gave off a very romantic light that Catherine was thoroughly enjoying.

She sat back and straightened her dress, once again looking at the wild flower that was resting on the table. Her friends had told her about a Jorvik dating site that they had luck with, and they had set her up on a blind date through the JoRomance site. They had told her that her date would find her by a blue wildflower.

At least she thought it was blue. Maybe it was supposed to be pink, not blue. Or what if she had gotten the restaurant wrong? She glanced around, there were a few other tables with people at them, families and couples and single people treating themselves. What if it was too dark in here for her date to see her? Or what if her date had already seen her and left? But she looked so pretty in her blue dress and it was so romantic and it smelled so nice here! Or what if… what if her date had seen her and had been so taken by her that they were now hiding, unsure what to do? Had she dressed up too much? Was it going to be love at first sight?

She sighed at that thought, oh to have a love story that began as romantically as love at first sight… they’d tell their story at their wedding, laughing at how they had been nervous at first but knew from the start that they were meant to be together. They’d have their fifth wedding anniversary dinner here at this restaurant, and she’d tell the love of her life that she was pregnant. They’d name their first child after the waiter that served them tonight, or perhaps the middle of their first child. They’d have four cats and she’d have a bird that sang to her while she worked in the kitchen making delicious treats and-

“Um, hello?” a nervous voice broke her from her day dream and she looked up at a young man about her age, he had a matching blue flower.

“Ah! Hello! You must be him!” Catherine jumped out of her seat, nearly sending the chair crashing to the floor, and shoved her hand toward him.

“Yes! I’m Justin!” he took her hand and shook it while she nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m Catherine! Glad to finally meet you!” she was too busy smiling and shaking his hand to notice the odd look that crossed his face when she said her name.

“Well Catherine, shall we sit and get something to eat?” Justin asked, hoping she would let go of his hand now. She blushed and nodded, sitting down. She bit her lip trying to conceal her smile when Justin pushed her chair in for her, just like the gentleman she had imagined!

“So Justin, where are you from?” Catherine started and Justin couldn’t help but smile at her, her energy and smile was adorable.

“Moorland, my father owns the stables there and I help out, taking caring of the horses, training the girls, stuff like that,” her eyes widened and she leaned toward him.

“You work with horses? That’s so cool!” Justin chuckled, surprised at her reaction. Many people worked with horses on Jorvik, he never really considered it a cool job.

“Yeah, it’s interesting at any rate! What about you?” Justin turned the attention toward her, wondering what sort of job someone this bubbly could possibly do, it must be something fun to keep her this happy.

“Oh! Haha! I live and work in Jarlaheim, I run a café and bakery!” she clapped her hands in excitement. Justin was smiling at her! How could she not smile back and blush? This was going so well!

“May I take your order?” the arrival of their server paused the conversation and they both glanced at the menus.

“I’ll have the lasagna,” Justin decided first and Catherine laughed.

“I was gonna get the same thing!” she explained when Justin looked at her.

“So two orders of the lasagna?” the server clarified just to be sure.

“Yes please!” they nodded and Catherine waved good bye as the server left.

“The lasagna here is soooo good!” Catherine gushed to Justin when they were alone once more.

“Really? I haven’t eaten here before,” he confessed, wondering how often Catherine came here to eat.

“Oh the lasagna is like a happy summer day by the beach!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard food be described like that,” he laughed, wondering what that even meant. She giggled and shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.

They ate the lasagna, the breadsticks that came with, and finally dessert talking all the while. Catherine didn’t see herself having those kids with Justin by the end of it, but short romances like this were still fun and wonderful just the same.


	113. anna-bravewood asked: Write me some Syntax meeting/hanging with Gretchen? <3

Syntax groaned again, rubbing his forehead and feeling disgusted by the sweat that was dripping down his skin. He was good at computers and hacking, not hiking through the woods across Jorvik. But he was on a personal mission and he had come too far to turn around. Besides, the house was now in sight.

“Gutten tag!” a male sounding voice came from beyond the fence. Syntax saw that the owner of the voice was a middle aged man dressed for gardening. If Syntax remembered correctly he needed to be careful, this man was a master spy and not a naïve tourist.

“Hello! I’m looking for someone,” Syntax called, panting his way up the path to the gate.

“Oh?”

“Gretchen? Your daughter?” the master spy smiled at that.

“Of course! Gretchen~! Mein kleiner Spion!” he called with his hand to his mouth to shout farther.

“HOLD YOUR POSITION!” a woman shouted, appearing around the house and Syntax froze, terrified all of a sudden.

“Who are you?” the woman called, looking at him critically while the man kept on smiling.

“I’m Syntax, Rebecca told me that Gretchen was able to crack some advanced encryption and I wanted to meet her!” Syntax wasn’t sure if it was necessary for him to keep perfectly still with his foot still raised in the air, but knowing this was a family of spies he wouldn’t be surprised if there were turrets on him at this very moment.

“He’s fine, Gunther,” the woman said with a smack to her husband’s chest and he laughed sheepishly at that, “come on in, I’ll turn off the mine field.”

Mine field. Oh sweet Aideen no thank you Syntax did not sign up for this.

But a few minutes later he was inside the fence and the woman, who introduced herself as Helga, was pointing up the mountain where Gretchen had disappeared to.

“Does she do that every day?” Syntax tried not to look at Gunther. For a man who had done nothing but smile at him he was terrified.

“Of course, she has to stay prepared. She’ll be back down the mountain in a few minutes, come wait with me!” Helga offered Syntax a bottle of water and a place to sit and he was not about to turn down the chance to rest.

“So you’re with CHILL? Their computer expert?” Helga waited patiently while Syntax gulped down the water.

“Yeah,” he panted after finishing his water. “How do you guys know Ms. X anyway?”

“That’s classified,” Helga said with a smile and Syntax looked away, not sure what to do or say. He hadn’t expected to have to deal with parents. He waited in awkward silence until Gretchen made it down the mountain, proud of her new record.

“So who are you?” the little girl finally gave Syntax notice after bragging to her mom.

“Ah, I’m Syntax, and you’re Gretchen!” she tilted her head to the side, wondering what he was doing here.

“I heard you were the one who broke the encryption on the usb,” Syntax continued after an awkward pause.

“Oh! For Rebecca! Yeah, that was easy, what about it?” Gretchen didn’t seem to understand the significance of what she had done.

“I just… well I just wanted to meet the person who was a master at hacking like me!” now that he thought about it this was a stupid idea and not worth the hike.

“Well, pleasure to meet you Syntax! Do you want to listen to some music?” the offer caught him off guard but he nodded and smiled. Minutes later the two of them were sitting on the porch listening to music together. This wasn’t what he expected, but to be honest he didn’t know what he had expected in the first place. But now he had met the girl who had cracked the encryption and they were bonding over music and talking about codes and which were easy to break and which had given them troubles. Maybe it had been worth the hike after all.


	114. cats-dogs-and-sirens asked: swedish or angst? how about both?

“Hey, Jessica, when are you getting a horse?” Jessica didn’t turn to look at Justin when he approached and asked that question. Justin had lost his horse from Pi after Pi’s betrayal and they were still trying to figure out where they were going to get and turn horses for Justin and Jessica. Katja had been able to pull Stalker from the other side after she had recovered from her return from Pandoria, and Sabine never lost Khan.

“I’m not,” was her curt reply. Justin had a bad habit of poking his nose where he didn’t belong, a trait of being a foolish human in over his head.

“But… we’re dark riders. We need horses to ride-“

“I’m not getting a horse!” she shouted and Justin had to duck back to avoid her hand.

“Eesh sorry whatever crawled up your ass and died there…” Justin muttered as he shuffled away, not about to get smacked over a simple question.

Jessica turned back to her look out over the ocean toward the shore, her stomach clenched and her skin clammy from sudden sweat. Justin was a human, and not even a soul rider at that. He didn’t understand what it was to be soul bonded, most the human soul riders didn’t fully understand. But Jessica wasn’t a human, she was a general, a princess, something very different from the dominant species of this planet. In a way she envied Justin, he was without his horse and yet it meant nothing to him, he didn’t feel pain from being separated.

She hung her head over the railing, afraid she was about to retch from the pain of memories. Very few on this planet could have understood her pain, and they were all gone last she checked. You are never quite the same after losing the one you are soul bonded to, it was worse than losing a lover and more tragic than the loss of a child. It was successfully committing suicide and surviving, a part of you dead and a part of you alive.

At times she still thought she could hear her soul, her horse. She’d strain to hear him and feel his short mane under her hand again only to be held by cold silence. She’d been gutted open and sewn back together without anything inside, half of her soul lain bloody on the floor. In her dreams she still saw the remains of her precious Regicide, lost to her all those centuries ago.

No, she would never get another horse. A filthy four legged beast bred by the mortals here could never replace a literal hole in her soul. The disgusting creatures were weak and worthless compared to the strength Regicide had, he could have crushed them all beneath one hoof.

But he was gone and now Sands wanted her to get another horse, it was required for what they were planning. She’d have to find and bond to another horse and she would hate the excuse of a steed with every fiber of her being.


End file.
